Of Magic and Dragons
by Tim the Technomage
Summary: An Elder Scrolls player from our world is brought into the world of Nirn as the Dragonborn three years before Alduin's return. The problem, he has no memory of his life outside the game and he has only one memory of the game. Will his wits and that memory be enough to save Tamriel?
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: I obviously do not own the Elder Scrolls Franchise. I apologize for the dig at a certain "President" but his lack of stability is getting to be a real problem. No more direct real-world references will be in the story.**

 **Prologue**

 **Sun's Dawn 4E 199**

Nirn, a magical world filled with many different sentient races and interesting people. Most only shape the lives of a few; some shape the lives of many for years to come; a handful shape the lives of every mortal for generations; and then there are those that change the lives of both mortals and divines. At the end of the Third Age, there were three: Mankar Camoran, the one who started the Oblivion Crisis; Martin Septim, the one who ended the Crisis by becoming my avatar; and the Hero of Kvatch, who ended the Greymarch and became Sheogorath, the Daedric Prince of Madness. Before them, there was Hjalti Early-Beard, Tiber Septim, or Talos, the one who unified Tamriel under one rule and ascended and the Eight became Nine. All of them were given by the Divines the power to change history, for good or ill, at birth. Just like Rufus Allec, a soldier in the Imperial Legion and the Last Dragonborn.

Rufus is an exemplary soldier, skilled in both the Legion's sword-and-board style and the ruffians' sword-and-dagger style, an excellent archer capable of hitting an apple at 250 feet, and capable of using magic from every school but Conjuration. He is one of the best tactical minds in the Legion, capable of taking down ten bandits on his own using only the environment and a sword. Despite his young age of seventeen, he is already considered a prime candidate for promotion and likely to make General one day. But first he must accomplish his destiny as Dragonborn and fight with Alduin to determine the fate of th-"Yo, Akatosh, Rufus is taking a squad to wipe out a bandit hideout. Come on down and watch." ...I'll have to continue this monologue later.

* * *

Akatosh teleported to the source of the shout, arriving in the Chamber of the Divines, the main section of the Divine Hall, a transdiminsional area where we Divines watch over Nirn and its people. Mortal minds are unable to truly comprehend what they see here, even in descriptions. What a mortal would see is a tall white room with flowing arches on top. The room is empty save for seven pieces of furniture: three couches in an arch, a table in front of each couch, and a screen showing a squad of Imperial Legionaries gathering outside an old fortress. Eight of the seats were taken when Akatosh entered the room. As Akatosh took his spot in the middle of the center couch, he looked to the left couch where he saw Mara and Dibella arguing over something with Kynareth trying and failing to stop them. On his couch, Talos kept shifting his gaze between the screen and Dibella, who forgot that her top was open again, while Stendarr was looking everywhere but at Dibella. On the right couch, Arkay remained focused on the screen while Julianos and Zenithar were discussing Cyrodil's economy and education systems. Akatosh sighed at all of this and focused on the screen. "What did I miss?" He said.

"The Legion sent Rufus and his squad to get rid of some bandits in that castle. The bandits outnumber the legionaries 5-1 and have a better position," Talos said, now focused on the screen. "It looks like it will be a close fight."

"Isn't that Battlehorn Castle? The castle the Sheogorath owned while he was mortal?" Julianos asked, ending his discussion with Zenithar.

"It has certainly seen better times." Kynareth noted. "The castle looks as bad as most of the forts in Skyrim and they have not been repaired in centuries." The rest of the Divines agreed but said nothing as the fighting started. After half an hour, only two legionaries were left against fifteen bandits hiding in the grotto. The two legionaries still standing were Rufus Allec and a battlemage, Viridis Fortuna, who were healing up at the only entrance to the grotto.

Mara worriedly broke the silence, "This is getting a bit too close for comfort."

"They can still win this," Stendarr stated. "After all, Rufus has our favor and is the strongest fighter there."

"But will that be enough?" Arkay muttered.

* * *

"What are we supposed to do now?" Viridis asked, healing his arm as he spoke. This mission was not going well for the Legion. First, the report that said there were only thirty bandits here missed an additional seventy bandits. So, rather than a simple mission of taking down bandits through superior discipline and skill, it was a desperate struggle just to survive, let alone take down the bandits. Out of the twenty legionaries sent to take the castle, only Viridis and Rufus were still alive. ' _The only good part is it looks as though the rumors about Rufus's skill were true,_ ' Viridis thought. ' _I've never seen anyone fight like that, charging into a group of ten opponents and killing them without taking a single hit._ '

"Just give me a minute. Let me think," Rufus responded, looking away from Viridis. ' _This is not going to be easy,_ ' Rufus thought as he mentally tallied up the remaining bandits. ' _If my math is right, there are between ten and twenty bandits left. We would be able to handle them if it wasn't for their boss.'_ Rufus suppressed a shudder remembering the bandit chief turning the fight against the legionaries by burning six soldiers alive with a single fire spell followed by his sword being used to decapitate two more in three seconds. ' _We have a couple minutes before they come out of the grotto and we can't make it back to Chorrol with them on our tail. We have to take them in the grotto but we have to prevent any of them from getting past us and getting help from nearby bandit camps. We need something to..._ ' his thought trailed off as he spotted a sealed bucket of red dye. Rufus smirked ' _That will do._ ' "Viridis, cast a fire rune a few feet behind us," Rufus said as he grabbed the bucket and opened it.

"Just what are you planning?" Viridis asked as he set the rune on the ground. Rufus was silent as he used a weak fire spell the heat up the bucket before pouring the contents over the rune and three feet towards the entrance, covering the rune completely. He then used a Frostbite spell to cover a six-foot section of wall in frost and then placed a Frost Rune inside that section. "I get it, by using the dye and frost, they will not be able to tell where the runes are placed and they would set them off no matter how they tried to get through." Viridis said. "How are we getting out or dealing with the bandits?"

"We will fight them further in. I will take any of the warriors and their boss in close quarters so he can't use that spell again without killing his men." Rufus ordered. "While I take them, you need to eliminate any mages or archers they have left. Once they are down we team up on their leader and kill him." Rufus drew his sword, " Let's go."

The two of them started moving to the grotto. When they arrived, Viridis spotted a problem. There was a cracked crystal in the center of the room that was giving off waves of magicka. "Careful," Viridis warned, "if we hit that crystal with anything, it could explode and take out the entire castle." Viridis also noticed a large number of rune spells scattered throughout the room but had no idea what they were supposed to do. While he spoke, Rufus counted fifteen bandits: ten armed with axes and maces, two with a bow and arrow, two ready to use spells, and the bandit chief wearing heavy armor with a mad-looking face on the chest and wielding a sword with golden dragon heads on the crossguard. In addition, there were several crates scattered throughout the room that would make for great cover. There was also a balcony around the room that the mages and archers would find useful.

"Get them!" the bandit chief shouted from his spot next to the crystal. Ten of the bandits rushed forward while four more ran up to the balcony and the chief remained next to the crystal. Rufus charged at the bandits, sword and dagger drawn, while Viridis zapped one of the mages before taking cover to avoid an arrow. Rufus was a blur of motion, dodging or parrying every attack coming at him until he had an opening where he cut a bandit's throat before resuming his defense. Viridis charged up an Ice Spike spell and fired it at one of the archers as he ran to a nearby crate, smirking when he heard the spike impact the archer's skull. As Rufus took another bandit down, the chief readied his fire spell and aimed it at Rufus...and the remaining bandits. "Burn!" he shouted as a wave a fire came from his mouth. Rufus quickly put up the strongest ward spell he had and barely blocked the spell. The six bandits in front of him, however, were charred to a crisp. Two bandits managed to avoid damage due to being behind Rufus and his ward spell.

"To Oblivion with this!" the male bandit shouted as he ran out followed by the female bandit slowing down only to make a rude gesture towards their former chief. Less than a minute late, two explosions, one fiery and one frosty, were heard, followed immediately after by two screams. The bandits' shock at the team-killing gave Viridis a chance to hit the remaining bandits with a bolt of lightning and a ball of fire leaving the chief as the last one standing.

"Viridis get back. Focus on healing me and I'll deal with this scum!" Rufus yelled. Rufus charged at the chief and swung his sword at him only to be blocked by a plate gauntlet. ' _This will be a close one,_ ' Rufus thought as he blocked the bandit's sword. ' _I may have the advantage in speed and agility along with two weapons to his one but he has heavy armor with few openings while I'm stuck in standard-issue leather and his sword is enchanted with fire damage._ ' There was another flurry of blows all parried by Rufus or blocked by the bandit and his armor. ' _This isn't going to work. At this rate Viridis will run out of magicka before this guy goes down._ '

Viridis had only a small a amount of magicka left when it happened. Rufus ducked a swipe from the chief, kicked his legs out from under him, then knocked the bandit to the left, away from the crystal. The bandit landed on the rune next to them. What happened next, Viridis could not have seen coming. The rune exploded and everyone heard a shout coming from the rune, "CHEEEESE!" Then dozens of cheese wheels came out of where the rune used to be, knocking the bandit's sword towards the crystal. Viridis cast his strongest ward spell just before the the sword hit the crystal and the crystal exploded. There was a bright flash, along with more "CHEEEESE!," and Viridis was knocked back towards the tunnel. But he somehow survived and had the strength to get back into the room. The room was covered in cheese wheels from all the runes going off. In the center of the room, there was a new crystal formation: the crystallized forms of the bandit and Rufus. As Viridis looked on in horror, a cheese wheel stuck to the ceiling fell down onto Rufus, causing his form to fall apart into a sand-like material. Viridis fell to his knees and yelled out in sorrow.

* * *

The Nine sat there in shock as their plan that they spent most of the last two decades working on was ruined due to Sheogorath and his obsession with cheese. Akatosh was clearly struggling not to start yelling so Dibella nervously asked, "Arkay, is there a way you could resurrect Rufus?"

Arkay sighed, "Unfortunately I cannot. Without a body to work with, I would be unable to properly attach his dragon soul along with all of his abilities and memories into a new body. Not to mention it goes against everything I stand for an-" at this point he was cut off by seven of the Divines yelling at him for using that as excuse. The yelling between the eight lasted a minute until Akatosh intervened.

"ENOUGH!" Akatosh shouted. The Divines stopped immediately as Akatosh continued in a calmer voice, "We have three years until Alduin returns which means we cannot start from scratch. Any sane plan will not work in this situation nor will any crazy plan _we_ can think of will work." At this, many of the Divines shuddered, knowing what was coming. "Arkay, since you will not resurrect Rufus, you have the honor of bringing Sheogorath here." Akatosh commanded.

Arkay reluctantly got up and walked over to the door that magically appeared and entered the doorway. There was a slight pause, then the Divines heard the shouting, "Let go of me. I need to get back to my vacation and its insecurities, paranoia, night terrors, and the CHEEEESE!" They all turned to look as Arkay struggled to pull Sheogorath in while he held on to the doorway. Talos and Stendarr got up to help and between the the three of them, they got Sheogorath into the room and on a chair that also magically appeared facing the screen. "Just what is going on here..." Sheogorath trailed off as the screen showed Rufus's last fight. Sheogorath started talking as soon as the clip ended, "Let's see if I got what is going on. Your trained Dragonborn is dead and since Arkay is a stick in the mud, such a strange phrase that is. It doesn't even-" Akatosh cleared his throat and Sheogorath got back to the point, "...And since you do not have time to come up with a working sane plan in time, you need me to come with a mad scheme to fix things. Am I close?"

Akatosh reluctantly answered, "That is fairly accurate. We need a well trained Dragonborn before Alduin returns and we do not have the time to raise another one." At this Sheogorath smirked. Akatosh started talking again, "I take it you have a plan?"

Sheogorath's smirk grew wider, "I have a few plans but I only need one. I'll be right back." Sheogorath got up and ran towards the door he recently entered from. There was a shout of "CHEEESE," and he was gone.

Zenithar spoke up, "I bet we are going to regret this." The rest of the Divines silently nodded in agreement.

* * *

Earth, a mundane world with only one sentient race and many dull people. Many of its people struggle to survive, let alone make a difference to the world. It is a harsh world with several leaders who care more about their wealth and egos than doing their jobs and operate on a messed up "one step forward, two steps back," procedure. It is a dull world to live in. Fortunately, there are people with imagination who create worlds to entertain the masses, whether it is through literature, film, or games. Occasionally their "fake" worlds turn out to be just as real as the real one and one person is about to discover just how real one of them can be...

Tim Ross, a highly intelligent man stuck in a dead-end career, was a bored man. Due to his low paying job, he was unable enjoy a life above that of an average college student. With nothing to do after work, he played games. His favorite was Skyrim, a game that he played so many times that he knew every secret in the game. To keep having fun with the game, he downloaded mods. One mod in particular changed his life forever.

" _'Enhanced Sheogorath's Daedric Artifact Quest',_ that looks like it will be fun." Tim started to download the mod and once it finished and he set it up, Tim started playing. After ten minutes he made it to Sheogorath's place and began the quest.

"Ah good you finally made it. I've been sitting here waiting for ten minutes just eating this cheese," Sheogorath said, sitting at a table loaded with cheese. Tim said nothing as he waited for the dialogue prompt to show up. "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue? I'll chase it off with... oh you're waiting for the dialogue prompt. Well, there is no prompt, there is only...THE WABBAJACK!" Sheogorath summoned the Wabbajack to his hand and fired a blast at the screen, passing right through it and hitting Tim, causing his world to go black.

* * *

When Tim woke up, he was in a featureless void. "What the hell just happened!?" he shouted.

"You entered an interdimensional void between your world and Nirn," Sheogorath said, appearing in front of Tim, causing him to try to jump back, but with nothing to push off of, he stayed where he was. Sheogorath floated backwards and spoke again, "Listen, this isn't a game anymore, you are going to have to become the Dragonborn and try to save Tamriel."

"Three questions. Have I gone crazy? Is this a one-way trip? Why me?" Tim asked.

Sheogorath pondered for a moment and answered, "Maybe, yes, and we need a fast learner to fill the role. The Nine had a trained warrior ready to step into the role. But after a mishap involving bandits, a magic crystal, and cheese, he died and Arkay was too uptight to revive him."

Tim sighed and responded, "Okay, I'm in. What do I have to do?"

"Surprised you agreed so easily. Perhaps you truly are mad."

"The way I see it this is the best option. The country I'm from has gone crazy so this offer gets me away before we destroy ourselves. If the country does not get destroyed, this will be far more interesting than the boring life I have there. And, finally, if I have gone crazy, this fantasy is better than whatever happens back home." Tim concluded.

"Well then in that case we have some time to get you ready. Time to make your new body."

"Just use the appearance of the character I used in game," Tim stated. Suddenly, Tim's body changed to a new form. It was a Nord with some Imperial traits, slightly below the average Nord height with a medium build, shoulder length reddish-brown hair and blue eyes. "Okay that will do. Can I have some basic spells to start out with?"

"Sure you can," at this, Tim successfully backed up. "I'm not doing that old trick. And there is one issue we need to discuss."

"What is it?" Tim said, still keeping his distance.

"Sending you in isn't going to be that simple. It will cost you most of your memories, both of your life and of the game."

Tim thought about it and responded, "Is there a way to be sure I will keep a memory of the game?"

"Of course, but it means you only get one in-game memory in addition to the spells your new body has already." Tim thought for a minute and told Sheogorath what he wanted to keep. Sheogorath grinned, "That should be useful. Now all we need is your new name."

"Just call me Ignis."

* * *

"I'm back and I brought the cheese," Sheogorath said as he entered the Chamber of the Divines carrying a stack of cheese wheels."

"Did you seriously leave just to get cheese?" Talos asked incredulously. "What is your plan to solve the Dragonborn issue?"

"Just sit back and watch while eating cheese. Wait, no, while I eat cheese. I already got a new Dragonborn ready to go and sent him to Skyrim for training." Sheogorath said as he sat down. The Divines turned their gazes towards the screen.

Akatosh thought about what he said and asked, "Sheogorath, where did you send him in Skyrim?" Sheogorath shrugged as the rest of the Divines looked at the screen now showing Ignis trudging through the snow as several wolves approached him from the front. "Sheogorath, if he dies to this I will make it my mission to ensure you never get cheese again for as long as Tamriel survives."


	2. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: I still do not own the Elder Scrolls Franchise.**

 **Chapter 1**

 **Sun's Dawn 4E 199**

"Why are you so worried, Akatosh?" Mara asked. "Sheogorath said that he is ready to go."

"The problem is that he mentioned training so I did a simple scan of him and, from what I can sense, this man is much weaker than Rufus was and he is dealing with memory loss." Akatosh stated furiously. "Those were the two problems we were trying to avoid when we got you to find a new Dragonborn." That got the rest of the Divines angry as well. They all started to yell at Sheogorath, until they were silenced with...

"Cheeeese!" Sheogorath shouted. When the Divines were quiet again, Sheogorath started talking, "Don't you think I took that into consideration when I selected him? None of you know just what Ignis is capable of so why don't you all just sit down and watch?" After his short rant, Sheogorath resumed his attempt to set a record for most cheese wheels in the air while juggling. The rest of the Divines just watched the screen, while coming up with new ways to punish Sheogorath when his plan failed.

* * *

' _Just where am I?'_ Ignis thought as he walked through the snow and the storm. Ignis struggled to remember what just happened to him. ' _Something about a mad god and cheese, no it was... I don't know,_ ' he thought as the memory slipped away. Ignis stopped moving and held his head in his hands as he focused, ' _Okay, what do I remember? I know this language; I know my name; I know that I am twenty-two years old; I know the spells Flames, Frostbite, Bound Sword and Healing; I know th-_ ' Ignis paused. He knew that he heard howling from the front but he couldn't see the source due to all the snow blowing around. ' _Remembering will have to wait. First I need to deal with that wolf or pack of wolves._ ' Ignis shivered due to the cold, ' _Then I need to find shelter, otherwise I'll freeze to death out here._ '

Ignis looked around and finally saw the source of the howling: a pack of three common wolves and one big white wolf coming towards him. Nearby, he also saw a cliff, causing him to smirk. He ran toward the top of the cliff, summoning a sword in his right hand as he moved. He made it to the cliff with three seconds to spare. In those three seconds he noticed the snow was only a few inches deep, causing his smirk to grow. He then turned to his left and used his Flames spell to melt some of the snow a few yards in front of him and hit the first wolf to catch up with him. The wolf yelped for a moment before Ignis killed it with his sword. The next two wolves came at him from the sides. He burned the one to the left and stabbed the one to the right in the head. That left only the big white wolf charging towards Ignis. He threw his sword at the wolf and used the Frosbite spell on the area his flames hit to turn it to ice. The sword faded away just after hitting the wolf, disorienting it just enough to slip on the ice and move uncontrollably towards Ignis, who jumped to the right using the Flames spell on the area between the wolf and the edge of the cliff, turning the snow to slush. The wolf slid off the edge and hit the ice a hundred feet below.

Ignis took a moment to catch his breath before looking over the edge. He saw the dead body of the wolf and let out a sigh of relief. He moved back and took a look around. In the distance, he could barely make out what looked like a bridge leading to a large stone castle or tower. He began to move towards the spot where he thought the bridge started as he thought, ' _First problem solved, now to take care of the shelter issue_. _'_

* * *

The Divines were amazed at that display of skill. While Rufus had taken down more opponents in a single fight, he had stronger spells and better equipment, in addition to more time to plan his fights and he had trouble with ambushes. Ignis, however, was able to quickly react and set up a plan to take down four wolves in less than ten seconds while he was dealing with the disorientation of memory loss and cold. In addition, he only had novice level spells and the clothes on his back. Akatosh turned towards Sheogorath and reluctantly said, "I am sorry we doubted you. But I have to ask, where did you find this guy?" The rest of the Divines turned waiting for his answer.

Sheogorath simply held up a stack of various cheeses and said, " I found him at the same place I found these new types of cheese."

Talos groaned at that "I take it you are never going to tell us?"

"NEVER!"

* * *

"Cold...Cold...Cold," Ignis muttered as the town came in sight. He tried using a Flames spell on the area in front of him to warm up a bit but, "HOT," it was a bit too much heat. He sighed and kept moving towards the town. After a few more minutes of walking, he made it to the town and he started searching for a place to warm up. After two seconds he found the inn and walked up to the door. ' _Though, with a name like_ The Frozen Hearth, _it probably isn't that warm._ ' Ignis thought as he opened the door. A couple of yards to the left he saw a roaring fire, ' _Glad I was wrong._ ' He went and sat down near the fire and after a bit the innkeeper walked over to him.

"Greetings, traveler, can I interest you in some food and drink or perhaps a room?" the innkeeper asked.

"Unless it's free, I'll have to pass," Ignis said while turning towards him. "I don't have any money on me."

The man frowned and asked, "Then what are you doing here?"

Ignis sighed and told him "Two reasons actually. First to warm up after being out in the cold for... I don't know how long in these," at this Ignis gestured towards his clothes that were clearly not made for being out in a storm. "The other reason is I needed a safe place to try to figure out what happened to my memories."

"What do you mean by that?"

Ignis turned back towards the fire and answered "I mean that I don't remember most of my life. I can remember that my name is Ignis, that I am twenty-two years old, and a few spells. But I don't remember anything else."

"Well you could head to the College," a woman sitting nearby said. "They could probably do something about the memory loss."

"The College?" Ignis asked. "What is that"

"The College of Winterhold. It is about the only thing that makes this region important," the innkeeper said, somewhat surprised that Ignis didn't know about it. "It is a school for studying magic."

"I assume it is that massive building with a bridge leading to it?" Ignis asked.

"That is right," the woman said.

"Thanks," Ignis said, getting up and walking towards the door. "If I had any money, I'd thank you for your help but, since I don't, I'll pay you some other time." Ignis left and went towards the college. After a minute he found a ramp leading to a bridge to the College.

Ignis walked up to the ramp to the bridge to the College. At the top of the ramp, an altmer stopped him from continuing. "Cross the bridge at your own peril," she said. "The way is dangerous, and the gate will not open. You shall not gain entry!"

"Why are you out here?" Ignis asked.

"I am here to assist those seeking the wisdom of the college," she replied. "And if, in the process, my presence helps to deter those who might seek to do it harm, so be it. The more important question is: why are you here?" she asked.

"May I enter the college? asked Ignis.

"Perhaps. But what is it you expect to find within?" she inquired.

Ignis told her, "I was hoping I could find a solution to my amnesia and, if I am unable to find a solution, to learn more about magic so I can protect others."

The elf's eyes widened, clearly not expecting that answer. She then replied, "Well, if the cause of your memory loss is magical in origin, Colette and Drevis should be able to do something about that. As for your other goal, this is the best place in Tamriel to learn how to wield magic. It seems that the college has what you seek. the question now is what can you offer the college. Not just anyone is allowed inside. Those wishing to enter must show some degree of skill with magic. A small test, if you will," she challenged.

 _"_ I'll take your test, then," Ignis answered.

"Excellent. A standard spell for one skilled in Destruction magic is the Firebolt. Casting one at seal on the ground here would be sufficient." she said.

"I don't know that spell," Ignis replied.

"I see. I can teach you the spell for a small fee," she stated. "Or you could try your luck with one of the court wizards in the Hold capitals."

"I can't afford that spell," Ignis said sadly.

"I did not even tell you the price," she pointed out.

"It doesn't matter," Ignis said. "Unless the spell is free, I can't afford it. I don't have any money and the only possessions I have are these clothes and I am not selling these."

"I see." She thought for a moment then asked, "What spells do you know?"

Ignis answered, "I know Flames, Frostbite, Healing, and Bound Sword."

"Unfortunately, I can not let you in with those spells, so I am goi-" she said before being interrupted.

"Look... um, " Ignis started before realizing he didn't know her name yet.

"Faralda."

"Faralda, I may not have any powerful spells but I can make far better use of the spells that I have than most mages. Would that be able to get me in?" Ignis said somewhat angrily.

"Perhaps, but the questio-" Faralda stated before being interrupted again.

"Look out mages, your future Arch-mage has arrived!" a voice shouted out from behind Ignis. The two of them turned to see a Nord walking up the ramp. When he reached the top, it was clear he was slightly taller than Ignis with short black hair and cold gray eyes. "I am Vondur Asni of Riften. I'm here to enter the College and learn more about destroying my enemies." he proclaimed arrogantly. Vondur then noticed Ignis standing in his way, "Oh look a weakling thinking he can be a mage. Don't bother, you could never get high in the College with a mage like myself in there showing you up."

Ignis was about to retort when Faralda started talking, "Well this is excellent timing. Rather than test you with a spell, both of you shall demonstrate your abilities in a battle."

"This should be easy, beating a novice in battle," Vondur stated. Vondur walked down to the bottom of the ramp before turning around and boasting, "Come on down, novice. Time to see just how weak you really are."

Ignis muttered "prick," just loud enough for Faralda to hear. Ignis walked to the edge of the ramp and through careful positioning of his feet, slid down the snowy ramp while standing. When he reached the bottom, he heard Vondur muttering about showing off. Ignis smirked, started walking to the left, and gave his own boast, "You know, you might be right that I am weak in terms of my number of spells and their power. However, I can make far greater use of my spells than you can. So it seems this will be a contest of power versus skill." He took his place for the duel and got his Flames and Frostbite spells ready.

Faralda, from her spot at the top of the ramp, yelled out, "Begin!" Vondur started off with an armor spell and a bolt of lightning that Ignis barely dodged. Vondur kept on firing more bolts, forcing Ignis to take cover in the ruin of a nearby house. Vondur switched to fire spells to burn down the wall Ignis was behind. Ignis got to work on his plan, placing both hands next to each other and using both spells simultaneously to create a mist. The mist quickly spread and blocked everyone's view. Ignis vaulted over the wall of the house nearest Vondur and summoned a bound sword to his right hand. Vondur could not see Ignis but Ignis could see Vondur and his armor spell.

Ignis got behind Vondur and placed the sword on Vondur's right shoulder, edge towards his neck. "I believe I win." Ignis declared. Vondur fell to his knees in shock that he could be beaten by such a 'novice.'

Faralda walked down to the two "Well done. It seems both of you are ready to enter the College. Please follow me to the College." Ignis let his sword fade away as Vondur got up and followed Faralda back up the ramp.

Ignis sighed and thought, ' _Let's hope the answers I'm looking for are there._ ' He quickly caught up with them at the start of the bridge.

* * *

The Divines and Sheogorath watched as the trio walked across the bridge to the College. Sheogorath started boasting, "I told you, even without his memory he is a dangerous fighter. Or perhaps mage would be better term no wait, sorcerer." The Divines just let him babble on, glad that their plan seemed to be working again despite the setback of losing Rufus.

Julianos spoke up after a minute, "At least he should be safe in the College training rather than out fighting with the Legion like Rufus was doing."

Not three seconds later, at the College, a mage was practicing his flame cloak spell in the courtyard. Something got messed up and he set himself on fire. "BY THE DIVINES, I'M ON FIRE!" he shouted before the burns killed him. The trio on the bridge had just made it to the courtyard and saw the whole thing. Back at the Chamber of the Divines, Sheogorath and the other eight just stared at Julianos as his hand hit his face while he muttered about idiotic mages and bad timing.


	3. Chapter 2

**AN: The College of Winterhold is bigger in this story than it is in-game. In my story it is more inspired by the** ** _Immersive College of Winterhold_** **mod on the Nexus. Some of the differences are the Halls of Attainment and Countenance have a couple more floors for more students and more experiment rooms respectively. The Arcanaeum has a second floor for work in the library. The Hall of the Elements has a second floor for meals. As for the students, there are roughly six in a group that are taught at a time. I am picturing three groups of students with three or four more staying for self study. As for classes, there are three classes a day, two before lunch with an hour in between each, one after lunch. There are only classes six days of the week. On the seventh day, the groups go on field trips (the Saarthal quest is a good example of this) to study in the field.**

 **I still do not own the Elder Scrolls Franchise**

 **I have also decided to bump the story up to M**

 **Chapter 2**

 **Last Seed 4E 199**

Akatosh entered the Chamber of the Divines for his month of keeping an eye on Ignis. The Divines at this point had to be certain that Ignis did not run into serious trouble so they arranged things so at least one of them was in the Chamber watching him. Akatosh went over to the right couch and shook Arkay's shoulder since he looked as though he was about to collapse. Akatosh then asked, "Anything happen during the last six months that I should be aware of?"

Arkay responded somewhat slowly, "Not much, just standard college events. We have a notebook here listing everything." He gestured over to the table in front of him where a red notebook lay.

Akatosh nodded and spoke up, "Arkay, go to your room and recharge. You look like you are about to collapse." Arkay got up and went to his room, barely able to walk in a straight line. ' _This is the one flaw with our system of watching Ignis: we are not able to receive prayers in here._ ' The Divines were sustained by prayers but they could only be received in their room. While they were out here, the Divines survived on the prayers they built up like a person survives on fat when they lack food. Some of Divines had an easier time of building up prayers due to what is considered a _prayer_ to them. Zenithar, for example, had trouble when the economy was bad and little was being bought. Dibella tended to have no trouble since sex was something the mortal races tended to enjoy no matter what the state of the world. Akatosh suspected that she received more _prayers_ than the rest of the Nine combined.

Akatosh sighed, picking up the book and going to his usual seat. He glanced at the screen noticing that Ignis was just arriving to breakfast at the college. ' _That should give me time to read over the book. It's not like anything could happen over breakfast,_ ' Akatosh thought as he read the book.

 **Divines' Recap**

 **Sun's Dawn 4E 199**

 **Julianos:** Ignis joined the Colege of Winterhold, made a few friends and two enemies, seems to favor the School of Alteration. He has made an attempt to restore his memory but it failed.

 **First Seed 4E 199**

 **Talos:** Ignis got in an awesome and hilarious fight with Vondur again. He beat Vondur by throwing snowballs that he heated up with Flames. Once Vondur was soaked he used the Frostbite spell to put the jerk on ice :) sadly he thawed and is still an ass :(

 **Rain's Hand 4E 199**

 **Mara:** Ignis is getting stronger in magic and is able to use some apprentice level spells. Also, one of the girls at the college has a crush on him and they would be sooo cuuute together :). I got a prayer from her last month asking for help with him, sadly I cannot :( we are interfering enough as it is *tears*

 **Second Seed 4E 199**

 **Dibella:** I know what you mean, they would be great together. I think we are seeing a "twice shy" situation with them. She is just naturally shy around him and he is shy about any close relationship due to amnesia. Oh, Vondur tried going after Ignis again, Ignis's buddy Godur punched him in the face :)

 **Mid Year 4E 199**

 **Stendarr:** Vondur and his lackey are just pathetic individuals but they have their uses. Ignis can improve his skills against them with almost no risk and since they are improving as well, this can go on for some time. Having a rival to beat should allow him to quickly catch up to Rufus in power.

 **Sun's Height 4E 199**

 **Arkay:** I cannot stand that Neloth brat. He is too obsessed with necromancy and is less than a shadow of the Neloth that lives in Solstheim. Having a powerful namesake doesn't make you powerful, kid. Also Ignis has mastered apprentice level spells in all schools and is getting much better in physical combat. And he is improving a great deal in enchanting thanks to his friend who happens to be a girl.

Akatosh sighed before adding his entry.

 **Last Seed 4E 199**

 **Akatosh:** Try to keep all future entries serious from now on.

Akatosh looked up at the screen and was shocked to see the dining room was a mess and some of the food was on fire. "What in Oblivion just happened?"

* * *

 **Later in the Day...**

Ignis opened the door to the Hall of Countenance and walked inside. He went up to the second floor and to the room where Masters Colette and Drevis were waiting to make another attempt to restore his memory. Ignis was not exactly hopeful that this would work. This would be the sixth time they tried to restore his memories and the first five times did nothing. He entered the room and sat down in his usual spot and asked, "What are we going to try this time, Masters?"

Drevis answered, "We are going to use alchemy to enhance the effectiveness of our spells." He held up a dark vial with a blue band on it before continuing. "This is a vial of Weakness to Magic Poison. Drinking this will make our spells more effective on you for a short time."

Ignis quickly realized the problem with this plan but, for lack of any other options, he agreed to try. He drank the poison and they cast their spells on him. He did not feel any different but before he could say anything, Colette start talking, "Our spells will not take affect until you go to sleep otherwise the mental overload would be too much to handle. We will have to wait until tomorrow to find out if it worked." Ignis thanked them and went back to his room in the Hall of Attainment. His friends were studying in their rooms since they did not expect him back until later and that he would be too exhausted to study with them anyway. He got ready for bed and fell asleep.

* * *

The images he saw that night were strange. Rather than images of his past, home, or family like he expected, he saw images and voices from lives that he could not have lived, for they were too different from each other and some did not look real...

A man with brown skin and white hair in a black, white, and red outfit shouted, "Unlimited Blade Works!" and a hundred blades appeared and were sent flying towards their targets...

A man in black armor fought against an old man in a brown robe. Both were armed with blades of light...

A woman putting heavy armor into a bag but the bag did not change in size or weight...

A huge man deflecting a red sword with what looked like black skin that came from the area around his distorted heart...

A massive metal construct releasing small metal objects that seemed to move on their own before firing a beam of pink energy...

A teen pressing a rune on a slate to move large metal objects...

Ignis woke up at that moment, panting heavily. He took a moment to calm himself before he grabbed his journal and started writing quickly.

* * *

Tolfdir stood on the ring surrounding the center ring of the Hall of the Elements, prepping himself before he started the class. As he prepared to start, he looked over the group he had this hour. This was one of the better groups that he had to teach. Most of the students he taught tended to think they did not need to worry about safety and also tended to end setting someone (usually themselves) on fire. These students, however, were focused on safety. Vondur Asni and Neloth were a pair he still worried about but that was due to morality concerns rather than their safety.

The remaining four students had formed a group that he could not be more proud of. Godur Stor was highly skilled in healing and was the physically strongest of the group; Bri Cheile was proving to be an expert in illusion and could get along with anyone; Amelia Schivo was a highly skilled enchanter and destruction magic user and easily the most hardworking student in the group; Ignis was a prodigy, able to get more creative use out of the basic spells than some masters got out of their entire repertoire of spells. Between the four of them, they had someone good at every school of magic and, since they worked together, they caught mistakes that the others missed. ' _Although, Ignis may not stay when the experiments to restore his memory are done. He-_ ' Tolfdir paused and noticed Ignis was missing. ' _That did not take long._ ' He noticed that Godur, Bri, and Amelia where huddled together, whispering to each other.

Tolfdir walked over to the trio and asked them, "I don't suppose any of you three know where Ignis is?"

Godur answered in an unsure tone, "We don't know. I checked his room before we came over for breakfast and his stuff was there but he wasn't."

Bri then spoke up, "I could go look for him if you want-" an obnoxious voice interrupted her.

"Isn't obvious? He left because he is out of tricks and he can't measure up with an actual mage anymore." Vondur said. He looked as though he was about to continue when he was cut off by a voice coming from the entrance.

"Sorry I'm late. I was up in the Arcanaeum doing a quick bit of research and lost track of time," Ignis said as he walked in. "Did I miss anything?"

"Actually we are just getting started. Now if I could have everyone's attention, we can begin." Tolfdir said as he went back to his spot. When his back was turned, he missed the glares Ignis and Vondur exchanged along with the quick sigh of relief from Amelia. Tolfdir turned around and started speaking, "Now, it is time we move on to the topic of Armor Spells. Armor spells are part of the Alteration School of Magic and are one of the most used series of spells in existence. Armor spells work by creating a barrier around the body of the caster with the magicka used in the casting. These spells lessen the damage from physical attacks but do nothing against magical attacks. Now it is not possible to completely negate the damage from physical attacks but it can be brought down to a more manageable level. There are four areas of study to improve the barrier: general mastery of a level of Alteration, the efficiency of the spell, the stability of Alteration spells in general, and a stronger Armor Spell," Tolfdir finished the opening part of his lecture before asking, "Are there any questions?"

The students were quiet for a moment before Ignis started talking, "When you said there are four ways to improve the Armor Spells, that was not entirely accurate. There is actually a fifth way though it does have a trade-off."

The rest of the students were as confused by this as Tolfdir. ' _What is he talking about? There are no other ways to improve Armor Spells._ ' Tolfdir spoke again, "Just what do you mean by that?"

Ignis gained a slight smirk at that question and he answered, "The fifth way is to focus the barrier in a smaller area. This can allow a complete negation of physical attacks in that area though, as I said, the rest of the body is unprotected. That can be slightly mitigated by moving the barrier to other areas of the body as needed," Ignis explained.

"I'm afraid I don't see how that is possible," Tolfdir stated.

"Perhaps a demonstration would help?" Ignis asked Tolfdir who gave a nod in response. Ignis turned to Godur and asked, "Godur, do you want to give me a hand here?" Godur, who was in his steel armor set, gave a quick shrug before nodding.

Ignis and Godur stepped away from the rest of the group. Godur held his arms up, ready for a fight, while Ignis charged up Oakflesh in both hands. He cast the spell but rather than a faint glow appearing over his entire body, a strong glow appeared over his right hand. He then put his hands up for a fight and said, "Ready when you are." Godur threw a punch towards Ignis's chest and the glow on Ignis's hand flowed across his body to cover the area the punch was about to hit. The punch hit but Ignis did not even flinch. The glow then moved to his right hand as he punched Godur in the shoulder, knocking him back a foot. Godur threw a right hook towards Ignis's left arm but again the glowing spot moved to the arm and blocked it.

Tolfdir's eyes widened as the pattern continued, shifting between attack and defense in less than a second. ' _How is he doing that? It should not be possible to have that much control over an armor spell, particularly with his limited experience with magic in general._ ' Tolfdir thought, trying to make sense of what he saw. ' _How did he even come up with the idea?_ ' He then watched in shock as the spell covered the top of Ignis's foot before he used it to kick Godur in the side. Godur blocked it with his gauntlet but he was still pushed to the side and the gauntlet had a slight dent in it. Tolfdir stepped forward and spoke, "That is enough." The two stopped their fight immediately. "How were you doing that?" Tolfdir asked.

Ignis caught his breath and spoke, "I'm just focusing the barrier into a smaller area when I cast the spell. I don't have a better explanation right now since I only got the spell working about an hour ago and I started working on it when I got up four hours ago."

At this point Tolfdir just did not have the energy to act surprised at the short time period and instead said, "Well, when you can find an explanation, I think we would all like to hear it. Now, we should get back to the lecture..."

 **An hour later...**

"...That concludes my lecture on Armor Spells. Class is dismissed," Tolfdir finished.

The students began to leave but Ignis stayed behind and spoke to Tolfdir, "By the way, I am done with trying to restore my memory. It is clear that Colette and Drevis are out of ideas if they tried a Weakness to Magic poison that, while it made their spells more effective, also improved the effectiveness of whatever is causing the amnesia." With that Ignis ran to catch up with his friends, who seemed shocked at what they heard. Tolfdir left the Hall of the Elements and went to the Hall of Countenance and climbed the steps to the teacher's lounge on the second floor. The rest of the staff was already there and noticed him enter and take a seat. Phinis asked, "Anything interesting happen in that class?" Rather than answer, Tolfdir grabbed an unopened bottle of mead, opened it, and downed the whole thing in one go. Phinis raised his eyebrow, "That bad? Who died this time?"

Tolfdir shook his head and started talking, "It has to do with Ignis..." Before he could continue, he was interrupted.

"Is it about the memory experiment? Did he remember anything?" Colette asked.

"He didn't say but I think that it didn't work because he complained about the two of you using poison to fix the problem," most of of the staff just stared at Colette and Drevis in disappointment. "What happened is he just did something that I thought to be impossible. He was somehow able to focus an Armor Spell into a small area and then move that area all over his body to completely block attacks and improve his own physical damage. Not to mention he figured out how to do this in three hours."

The rest of the staff just sat there in shock before Sergius spoke up, "He only has half of a year of training in magic and he has done the impossible. What will he be capable of after a decade, let alone when he reaches our age?" There was a moment of silence before everyone reached for the closest alcoholic drink.

* * *

Akatosh was amazed. He knew that Ignis was skilled in how he used the basic spells but this was an incredible display of spellcrafting far beyond the ability of any of the mages at the College. He had to agree with that mage, if Ignis was this skilled after six months, by the time Alduin showed up, he could likely match Alduin's power. "Though without Dragonrend, he can't beat Alduin yet," he muttered to himself. Not for the first time, he wondered just where Sheogorath found Ignis. He figured that he would not find out anytime soon since Ignis wasn't going to work on getting his memory back. He shrugged and updated the journal before turning back to the screen.

* * *

 **A week later in the Arcanaeum...**

Ignis grabbed the last of his usual set of books on Armor Spells and began walking towards the table his friends were sitting and talking at, deep in thought as he did so. ' _How is it that casting a spell that has never been done before is easier than explaining how to cast it?_ ' It was frustrating that the explanation was the hardest part since it was a very important part in creating spells. ' _If I can't find a way to explain how to cast this spell, the secret will be lost when I die and mages will have to rediscover how to do this again, though next time they will not have access to what I saw._ ' He reached the table, put the books down and sat at his chair before greeting his friends, "How are you all doing?"

"Great. I finally managed to cast the invisibility spell," Bri Cheile answered as she cast said spell. She disappeared for a second before reappearing with a small frown, "Still can't hold it for long." Bri was an intelligent Breton at the adept level in Illusion and Restoration magic. She was also an attractive young woman with brown hair and eyes, was friendly with everyone and tended to get better deals from men when she shopped around.

Godur just shrugged and said, "Same as usual." Godur Stor was not a person that you would expect to be a mage at a glance. For one, he was a Nord and apparently they are not a fan of magic. Secondly, he was huge even by Nord standards, Godur was eight feet tall and looked like he had the muscle to punch through a stone wall. Finally, Godur did not act like an intelligent person in class and had difficulty following lectures. But he was still a great mage and friend due to his kind personality and his natural talent at restoration magic. He was also a skilled smith who was fascinated by the Dwemer metal and studied magic to find a way to create more of the metal without melting existing pieces down.

Amelia kept her face down in her book to hide a slight reddening of her cheeks and shyly said, "Fine and you?" Amelia Schivo was a shy and young Imperial with long blond hair and blue eyes. She was such a bookworm that Ignis and Godur suspected the only time she did not have a book in her hand is when she was listening to a lecture. She tended to be quiet in class do to lack of confidence in herself. Despite that, in terms of a single school of magic, she was by far the most skilled student in the group, having reached the level of expert in Destruction magic before arriving at the College to study enchanting.

Ignis sighed and answered, "Annoyed. This focused armor technique is proving to be difficult to explain and I've made no real progress on it despite a week of study."

Amelia asked, "How did you cast it if you can't explain how to cast it?"

Just before Ignis answered, Godur got up and walked away, "It is hard to explain, the night before I tried to restore my memory and, while I learned nothing about who I was, it seemed to restore memories of... things I saw. In this case, it was a vision of a guy blocking a sword with some black stuff moving from the area around his heart to the spot where the sword would hit." Ignis left out his suspicion that the black stuff came from _inside_ the man's body. He continued, "I tried just picturing that effect in my head as I cast the spell but it did not work."

Bri asked, "So what did?" She kept glancing behind Ignis for some reason.

Ignis thought about it and responded, "I tried a few ideas like that. I tried thinking about the armor like it was water and I could move it freely. That worked until something hit the armor and it fell apart. Then I thought of the the spell as liquid metal that hardened at the spot I wanted and that seemed to work bu-"

"Got it!" Godur said from behind him. Ignis turned around and saw Godur cast the focused armor technique perfectly. Ignis was surprised as Godur moved the focused part around his body with ease and adjusted the size of the spot with no trouble. Godur said, "The metal explanation made it work." Before Ignis could say anything, Bri spoke up.

"We kind of thought if you didn't think you were explaining the spell as if you were teaching it it might help."

Ignis said, "The thing is, the metal comparison didn't work for me."

Amelia asked, "Then how did he cast it?"

Ignis thought and realized what was going on, "I think there is no explanation that will work for everyone but if a person pictures what they are doing and uses their own explanation for how it moves, it will work."

* * *

 **Two weeks later...**

Ignis was talking to Urag about the planned addition of the Focused Armor Technique, ' _F...A...T... I need a new name and acronym for that,_ ' to the books on Armor spells when Urag mentioned they found out where some of Archmage Shalidor's writings were and needed someone to retrieve them. Ignis responded, "My friends and I could get them for you if you tell us where they are." Urag told him where they were rumored to be and Ignis smiled. "I think Godur will be happy about that." Ignis turned to leave and said, "By the way, you might want to hold off on adding the new technique until I can come up with a better name for it." Urag just groaned when he realized the reason.

Ignis went over to meet his friends and greeted them. Godur just asked, "What are you so happy about?"

Ignis said, "You know how we were having trouble deciding where to go on that adventure?" They all nodded. "Well, I was just talking to Urag and he mentioned some rumors about Archmage Shalidor's writings being in a dungeon nearby."

Bri asked "Which one?"

Ignis smirked "Mzinchaleft. It's south of Dawnstar."

Godur smiled, "Guess we better start planning our trip."


	4. Chapter 3

**AN: I do not own the Elder Scrolls Franchise**

 **Chapter 3**

 **Hearthfire 4E 199**

Zenithar came in to the Chamber of the Divines to start his shift of keeping watch on Ignis. He saw Akatosh sitting in his usual spot with a notebook in his hand. Since Akatosh did not react to the sound of Zenithar entering the room, he started talking, "You can go back to your room to recharge now. There is no reason to sit here and waste your time."

Akatosh tossed the notebook to him and said, "I'll leave once you get caught up on what has happened. When I came in to watch, I looked away to read the book for five minutes at most and when I looked back, the mages somehow set their breakfast on fire while they were eating." Zenithar raised his eyebrow at that but did not ask. Instead he started reading the book. After a couple minutes he reached Akatosh's entry.

 **Last Seed 4E 199**

 **Akatosh:** Try to keep all future entries serious from now on. Ignis stopped trying to restore his memory. Ignis invented a new use of armor spells by focusing the armor in a smaller area. Ignis and his friends are planning on going adventuring in a Dwemer Ruin.

"I'll try to keep it serious but no promises," Zenithar said. "What is this 'focusing the armor' thing that you wrote about?"

"Ignis was able to concentrate the entire armor spell in an area the size of his hand that could completely negate physical attacks and he could move the area around to defend more of his body or to attack his opponent," Akatosh said in a calm tone though Zenithar could tell Akatosh was as shocked as he was. "What's more is that he was able to make the spell work in four hours."

Akatosh got up and left the room as Zenithar took his seat and looked at the screen. He noticed the four mages were in in Dawnstar gathering supplies.

* * *

"...That will be 250 Septims," the shopkeeper said. Bri handed over the coins and picked up the potions she bought before leaving the store. She walked over towards where her friends were waiting to go to the Dwarven Ruin. As she did so she thought about why she needed to get those potions.

' _Stupid wolf. Just had to bite me and give me rockjoint. Couldn't try to bite Godur on his armored arm._ ' Bri had to use one of their cure disease potions to take care of it and so she needed to restock at apothecary the morning after they arrived. They took the southern route to Dawnstar and they had to deal with wolves, spiders, and a frost troll. That delayed them enough that when the quartet saw the ruin off the road, Amelia and her said they were going to the inn first so they could do the dungeon after getting some rest. She finally reached the edge of town where her friends were waiting. She noticed something wrong immediately. ' _Why do they have all of our supplies with them?_ ' Bri asked, "Is something wrong?"

"Just being cautious," Godur answered. "We do not know how large the ruin is so we need to be prepared to camp out there if it would take more than a day to complete." Bri sighed in relief before Ignis spoke up.

"Also, the people at the inn said that a storm was likely today. Even if it doesn't take a day, it is likely that the storm will start before we finish the dungeon and we will have to stay down there regardless." Bri just glared at him before grabbing her bag from Godur.

"Well, I guess we better get started then," Bri said as she put the bag on.

* * *

 **Just south of Mzinchaleft**

 **Two hours later...**

"Looks like that storm is starting earlier than we thought," Amelia said while looking at the western sky which was covered in dark clouds only a mile or two in front of them. When Ignis looked towards the area under the clouds, he could not see far due to the heavy precipitation. He shuddered at the idea of being out in that. Ignis turned north towards the ruins where he could see a lone guard out front.

"Okay, let's see if this works," Ignis said before casting Detect Life. He was able to see ten auras before he had to stop the spell to save magicka. He took a moment to catch his breath before he spoke again, "Okay there are ten bandits before we enter the ruin itself. Bri, did you finish mastering that Invisibility spell yet?" she nodded. "You will have to use it to get close to the bandit in the front then hit him with a calm spell, then the rest of us will use it to get closer before taking him out. After that, Godur and I will get the attention of the bandits in the hallway and fight them at this end. Amelia, you will need to set up a rune at their end of the hall and hit any archers that come around the corner. Those that get past the rune and your attacks will be handled by Godur and myself, with Bri healing us." He finished explaining the plan before asking, "Everyone ready?" The three of them nodded. "Okay, let's go," He go up and turned around... and came face-to-face with a Khajiit in a monk's robe. "What the-"

"M'aiq knows much, and tells some. M'aiq knows many things others do not. Too much magic can be dangerous. M'aiq once had two spells and burned his sweetroll." The four mages just gave each other looks of confusion before he spoke again, "Some like taking friends on adventures. M'aiq thinks being alone is better. Less arguing about splitting treasure," he paused then, "M'aiq wishes you well. M'aiq is done talking." With that he ran off to the south, leaving four very confused mages behind.

Bri started talking after a minute, "What. Was. That?" Godur shrugged and Amelia's mouth just hanged open. Ignis, however, was getting odd images of someone just as random in a red and black outfit and using two swords. Ignis shook his head to clear the images from his mind before he spoke again.

"I don't think we are going to find out anytime soon." He glanced towards the storm and estimated the time it would take to arrive. "We need to get moving. That storm will be here any minute now," Ignis said.

* * *

Zenithar watched as the group easily fought the bandits and enter the dungeon just before the storm started. "So, not only is he good at personal battles, but he is a decent tactician too," he muttered. He continued to watch as the group dealt with more bandits until they encountered the first of the Dwemer automatons. "This should be interesting."

* * *

Amelia looked around the corner and saw several golden robots moving around up ahead. She pulled her head back and asked Godur, "Any idea what those things are? There are spider-like things scuttling around along with spheres moving without rolling."

Godur said, "The first are the Dwarven Spiders. They generally attack by lunging at people, though some are able to shoot lightning at targets and create a burst of lightning when destroyed. The second are the Dwemer Spheres. They move in a sphere when there are no enemies around but when they detect an opponent, they come out of the sphere and reach my height. They are armed with a sword-arm and a crossbow-arm." He then glanced towards Ignis and asked, "I assume you already have a plan?"

Ignis glanced around the corner and did a quick mental count of the automatons and answered, "Yea, these enemies shouldn't give us any trouble. Godur and I will go around the corner and use ward and armor spells to block any lightning or crossbow bolts. Amelia, you will use chain lightning to take them down. Anything that gets in close range will be weakened enough for us to take down with ease." They began the fight and, like Ignis predicted, they had no trouble at all. Ignis and Godur didn't even get a chance to attack. Although after the fight was a different story.

"Godur, why are you dragging those automatons around?" Bri asked. Godur stopped trying to use one of the spiders to drag a sphere.

"I was hoping to take them back to the college to study them and perhaps make my own version," Godur stated.

"You can't just bring them with us. We have no idea how much longer the ruin is so it could easily exhaust you to carry them the entire way and Ignis will have to handle all of the melee fighting on his own. Also, that is making a lot of noise that we can't risk later in the ruin," Amelia said, trying to keep her voice down.

Before anyone raised their voices, Ignis said, "Enough. Godur, leave these ones here. It's likely that we will find more of the automatons at the exit. You can bring one of that group back to the college with us." Godur found that acceptable and dropped the automatons. The group walked further into the dungeon until they arrived at a switch and gate puzzle.

Bri went for the switch and said, "Godur, help me out with this puzzle." Godur stepped forward to assist her, leaving Amelia and Ignis behind. There was an awkward silence between them before Ignis spoke in a quiet voice.

"I know you were just looking out for me but you don't need to worry, I can handle being alone in melee with many opponents." Ignis could see Bri and Godur working through the puzzle quickly.

Amelia glanced away to hide the slight reddening of her cheeks before she spoke, "I know. I'm just worried about what would happen if we lost you. You are the best of us in combat and in school, if we lost you it would be..." she couldn't finish.

Ignis said, "I'm sure you all will be fine without me. But it is almost impossible for me to be beaten by weak enemies like these," Ignis put his hand on Amelia's shoulder, "especially with the most powerful student taking most of them out before they reach me." The two of them shared a small smile at that but before they could say anything else...

"Done!" they heard Godur shout up ahead. They turned to see the last of the gates fall. They ran ahead to where Godur was waiting. Before they got to him, they heard Bri talking to the left.

"Hey guys, I found some treasure chests over here." They went over to where Bri was looking through one of the chests. She pointed to the closed one and said, "That one is locked and I can't open it." Ignis went over to it and cast an overcharged open lock spell. The chest did not open but he could hear some of the tumblers inside move so he cast the spell again and the chest opened up.

His friends just looked at him so he asked, "What?"

Bri asked, "Since when could you do that?" She seemed slightly mad.

Ignis responded, "I asked Tolfdir about it the day before we left. Figured we might need the ability to open locks in here." He figured out what she was angry about and continued, "Don't worry, according to Tolfdir, there is an enchantment on the dorm doors that blocks the spell and punishes anyone that tries."

Godur asked, "What happens if you try?"

Ignis shrugged, "No idea. But apparently it is not pleasant." He started to grab the loot inside the chest. Once they got everything from the room, they walked to the door that the gates blocked access to. Godur opened the door and found an elevator. Ignis said, "Looks like we're going down." They got on the platform and Godur flipped the switch, causing the elevator to move down... at a rate of one yard per second.

* * *

 **Twenty minutes later...**

The elevator finally reached the bottom of the shaft and everyone quickly got off. Bri complained immediately, "That was a slow elevator. It should not have taken that long to get us down here. Also those gears were making me go crazy"

Ignis did a quick calculation and said, "We went down about 3600 feet. While we could have cut that down to about a minute, we would not be able to walk away from that drop. Though I agree on those gears. That must have been an ancient form of torture, listening to the same sound over and over again. Although, there was one benefit to the wait."

"What?" Godur asked.

"I've narrowed it down to Focused Armor Spell Technique or Controlled Armor Spell Technique for the name of the armor manipulation spell," Ignis said. The others just groaned. It had been over a week and Ignis still had not been able to name his technique. Amelia walked past him to look at the room ahead and bit back a scream. Ignis quickly turned around and saw the reason why.

They had entered a large, poorly lit, underground cavern with a lake. While most of the structures, including the walkways above the lake, were dwarven architecture, they were joined by huts made of some dark, spiky material. They could see several pale, crouched figures moving around the huts. But that paled before the real problem. About twenty feet in front of them, there was a massive bug that looked like the huts, walking along the walkway right towards them.

* * *

Zenithar watched as Amelia turned the Chaurus into a pile of ash along with several Falmer. He chuckled, "Guess she really does not like bugs. Hate to see how she would react to a Frostbite Spider." He watched for few more minutes until they came across a Falmer Warmonger. "That could give them trouble. They tend to be strong, fast, and durable enough to-" He watched Godur catch the falmer's blade in his hand with the armor spell. He then proceeded to kill the falmer with a single punch to the face. "Guess I underestimated his strength." After clearing the rest of the falmer areas out of enemies and loot, they walked towards the final room.

* * *

"So, you're afraid of bugs," Ignis said in a light tone in an attempt to lighten the mood a bit. Amelia did not agree with him.

"Shut up. That thing made Godur look small and he makes everyone look short." Amelia said furiously. "Besides, you all were scared too."

Bri said hesitantly, "True. But none of us started screaming and firing off fireballs at anything that moved."

Before Amelia could fire back, ' _With how she is now, that could be literal,_ ' Ignis said, "Amelia I am sorry for that comment. Now can we drop this before something else shows up?" Amelia calmed down and stopped glaring at him. Godur and Bri sighed in relief. Ignis reached the door at the top of the stairs and opened it.

The group went through the door, turned to the right and they immediately stopped. They could see a large room up ahead that looked like the final room before the exit but there were a few problems. First, it was a two level room with stairs slightly to the right which meant that there could be enemies above them. Second, there was a treasure room off to the right containing a chest with several weapons and armor near it. Third, there were five Dwarven Spheres moving around the room. Fourth, there was a huge Dwarven automaton in the back of the room. And finally, behind the automaton was an elevator that had a constant stream of water coming down from above and forming a large puddle of water around the exit. Bri muttered quietly, "What is that thing?" She glanced at Godur, waiting for his response.

Godur worriedly answered, "A Dwarven Centurion. They are slow in agility and maximum speed but they make up for it with high-powered melee attacks and a deadly steam attack at range." He then glanced at Ignis, expecting him to have an idea on how to beat the Centurion. Ignis was looking around the room to see what could give them an advantage. From what he could see, this was not going to be an easy fight and his friends were not going to like his plan.

"Okay, I have a plan but you are not going to like it." Amelia was about to speak but Ignis continued, "Amelia, you will need to use Chain Lightning on the Spheres to draw their attention. Then, you, Godur and Bri will run up the stairs and take cover behind that pillar. Godur will then get their attention and fight them one at a time. Amelia, you will have to slow them down with long-range attacks while avoiding the crossbow bolts. Bri, you will have to heal them while staying behind cover, so find a spot where you can see Amelia and Godur, but not the Spheres."

Amelia asked in a worried tone, "What are you going to do? And what about the Centurion?" Her eyes widened as she figured it out but before she could say anything, Ignis started talking again.

"I'm going to take that thing down on my own." Ignis could tell that they did not like the idea so he explained why. "Look, it's the only plan that we have right now that even has a chance of success. If we try to take them all on in here, the Centurion will trap us in the hallway and we will have no room to maneuver and it will kill us with the steam. If we try to fight everything up on the second level, we will have the same problem. If we go after the Centurion in close combat, the Spheres will just pick us off at a distance while we have no room to maneuver." They still looked like they were going to tell him not to do this so Ignis asked, "Godur, what happens when you rapidly cool hot metal?"

Godur thought for a moment to figure out what that had to do with anything before he answered, "It weakens the metal, forming cracks that make it easy to br-" He grinned as he realized the plan. "Just where do you intend to try that?"

Ignis said, "I was thinking one of the leg joints. That way I could cripple it and get behind it to do as much damage as I can without worrying about retaliation." Bri and Godur seemed to be reassured that Ignis would be fine but Amelia was still worried, so he put his hand on her shoulder again and said, "Don't worry, I can handle this. Even if I can't destroy the Centurion on my own, I'm certain I can last long enough for you to deal with the Spheres."

He removed his hand but before he could say anything else, Amelia gave him a hug and whispered, "Good luck." He could see Godur and Bri giving them a strange look. Before he could figure it out, she let go and said, "Ready to go?"

Ignis smirked, "Ready when you are." Everyone got into position as Amelia charged up a Chain Lightning spell. She fired it off and successfully got the attention of the Spheres and the Centurion activated at the sound. His friends ran up to the second floor to draw the Spheres away. The Centurion was about to take a step forward when it was hit by a Lightning Bolt spell. It turned towards Ignis and saw him charging a spell in his left hand so it prepared a steam attack.

Ignis finished casting Stoneflesh in its focused form before he ran towards the Centurion and put up a dual-casted ward. The Centurion sent a burst of steam at Ignis but his ward held long enough for him to get in close. He dropped the ward and summoned a bound sword in his right hand and cast flames with his left. He focused the flames on the left leg joint while he used the sword and armor spell to deflect or block the automaton's attacks. He moved to the right to dodge the hammer arm and avoid being smashed. Ignis saw that the joint was red from a couple minutes exposed to the fire spell so he stopped casting Flames and switched to Frostbite. Ignis then cast the spell on the red-hot joint causing it to crack from the massive change in temperature. The Centurion swung the axe arm sideways in an attempt to decapitate Ignis, who chose to stop casting his spell and duck, just narrowly dodging the swipe. Ignis stabbed the crack in the machine's leg in an attempt to widen the crack and disable the leg.

Unfortunately, the sword disappeared just as he stabbed the leg and barely did any damage. The automaton began attacking at a faster pace, preventing Ignis from conjuring a new sword and forcing him to focus on dodging. Ignis was having a difficult time trying to come up with a new plan while he had to dodge attacks that could kill or cripple him in a single hit. He thought, ' _Okay, I can't cast another spell while moving like this and my armor is going to fall in ten seconds. I need to end this now bu-_ ' Ignis had reached the pool of water in front of the automaton's docking station and caused a small splash of water when his foot hit the water. Ignis smirked, ' _That will do._ ' Ignis backed up further until the automaton's feet were in the pool of water before he focused all of his armor on his left foot and kicked the cracked joint with his left leg. The automaton fell onto its left knee, creating another splash in the pool, as Ignis jumped towards the pile of rubble to his right and charged another dual-casted spell. He landed on a dry rock and turned back towards the Centurion and cast an overcharged Sparks spell at the pool of water. Normally the spell would not do much damage, but since the water helped conduct the lightning, it did far more damage. That would still not be enough to stop it but at the same time, a powerful lightning spell hit the Centurion in the chest and that was enough to finally bring the Centurion down.

Ignis took a moment to catch his breath before he looked up to see Amelia standing on the edge of the second level. They shared a quick smile before Ignis ran over to his friends who had just finished off the last sphere. "Is everyone alright?" he asked.

Godur held his left forearm and said, "I'm going to have a nasty bruise here over the next few days but other than that, I'm good." He walked over to the edge to look at the remains of the Centurion.

Bri said, "Fine. Nothing even got close to me."

Amelia said, "Other than being out of magicka, I'm okay." Her eyes narrowed a bit, "I thought you said that you would be fine on your own."

Ignis scratched the back of his head and said, "I guess I miscalculated just how powerful that Centurion and those Spheres were."

"Actually, that was my fault," Godur said from the edge. "That was a Dwarven Centurion Guardian model. They are roughly equal to two of the normal ones." He pointed towards the pile of Spheres, "The same also applied to those."

Ignis asked, "Are any of the spheres intact enough for study?" He nodded. "Gather up all the loot in the room and bring it up to this level. It's late and likely still storming outside," he glanced towards the water coming down the elevator shaft. "We will stay here tonight and make our way back to Dawnstar tomorrow." They look through the room and found quite a bit of loot both in and out of the treasure room. They found the book Urag asked them to find, several pieces of Dwarven Armor that Godur wanted for study, and an enchanted glass sword among others. Altogether, it was a good and profitable run.

* * *

 **The Next Day at Dawnstar...**

"Sorry, I can't buy that from you," the blacksmith said about the glass sword. Ignis just sighed. He had just gotten back to the blacksmith's shop, where he dropped off the loot they decided to sell with Bri, from disenchanting several pieces of loot with Amelia. Everything was sold except for that sword.

Ignis asked, "Why can't you buy it?"

He responded, "Two reasons. One, it is a named blade belonging to someone still alive. And two, I am out of money to spend."

Bri said, "Fine with me. Thank you for buying everything else." Bri and Ignis walked away from the store before she said, "Told you he would not buy it."

Ignis said, "How did he even recognize the sword? This sword is not that unique."

Bri sighed, "I don't know. Shopkeepers seem to have the magical ability to know about important items like this. We should be glad he didn't think it was stolen." They continued walking over to the smelter outside Iron-Breaker Mine where Godur was melting most of the dwemer scrap down to more manageable bars. Amelia arrived before them and glanced at the sword.

"They didn't buy it?" Ignis shook his head. Amelia said, "Wonder why. It doesn't look any different from any other blade."

Ignis turned towards Bri and asked, "You want to tell her about your 'magic shopkeeper' theory?"

Bri was about to talk when she noticed a courier talking to the mine owner. She said, "Give me a minute. I have an idea." She took a piece of parchment from her robes and wrote something on it before giving it and the sword to the courier. They talked for a bit before he ran off and Bri returned to the group. "Well, problem solved."

Ignis asked, "How?"

Bri smiled, "Just wait. In...one week tops, we will get a reward or at least a thank-you for finding the sword." No one seemed to believe her so she added, "Couriers are very good at tracking people down."

"I believe that idea less than the 'magical shopkeepers' theory." Ignis said. "There is no way he will be able to find the sword's owner."

* * *

 **One Week Later...**

Godur and his friends were studying the Dwarven Sphere they picked up at Mzinchaleft. He had made enough progress to design his own model though it would not be able to move on its own without the power source. After they got back from lunch, Faralda showed up and dropped off a bag of money and a note. Bri opened the note and summarized it out loud, "Thank you for returning my sword. I thought I would never see it again. Here is a reward for my sword." She picked up the bag and tossed it up and down. "Feels like 500 Septims in here." She looked at Ignis and Amelia, "Pay up." The two of them tossed two small pouches of money to Bri. Godur grinned, ' _They learned their lesson. Never bet against Bri._ '


	5. Chapter 4

**AN: I don't own the Elder Scroll franchise**

 **Chapter 4**

 **Morning Star 4E 200**

Mara walked into the Chamber of the Divines to find Talos watching Ignis fight a group of bandits in the snow. She sat next to Talos and asked, "Should I be worried that he is outnumbered ten-to-one?"

Talos snorted before saying, "No. These bandits are too weak to be a threat to a guard, let alone a spellsword of Ignis's skill." Sure enough, when Mara looked back at the screen, she saw that half of the bandits were already dead or dying.

"Can I have the diary now?" Mara asked.

Talos glared and said, "You can have the _journal_ ," he handed it over to her. "Tell me when you are done so I can leave." Mara tuned him out as she caught up to Akatosh's entry and thought ' _Just going to ignore his order._ ' She continued to read the other entries...

 **Divines' Recap**

 **Hearthfire 4E 199**

 **Zenithar:** Ignis and his friends went to the Dwemer ruin of Mzinchaleft southwest of Dawnstar. They ran into a strange Khajiit. They took down many bandits, Falmer, and automatons along the way and gathered a great deal of loot. All together, the group made a little over 5,000 Septims. Also, my blessing to shopkeepers and couriers is very amusing in action.

 **Frost Fall 4E 199**

 **Kynareth:** Ignis has been studying to try and learn of a way to separate his spirit from his body while sleeping so he can continue practicing new spells. He was discouraged when he was informed that it drains his body to maintain the projection.

 **Sun's Dusk 4E 199**

 **Julianos:** Ignis just found out about the existence of the Telekinesis spell and has been working almost non-stop to master it. He came up with an idea of using several rings on his hands to get the spell cheap enough to cast for a few seconds, unfortunately that didn't work. He is a bit depressed about this, saying he may never be a "Jedi," whatever that is.

 **Evening Star 4E 199**

 **Talos:** Ignis has been gathering a large amount of petty soul gems to train enchanting. Ignis has been practicing using magic and swords together and is doing fairly well. Ignis has mastered his focused armor technique with Ironflesh. Ignis is considering going into another dungeon. I've decided to send him to a ruin with a word wall in it.

Mara asked, "How are you sending Ignis to a ruin?"

Talos responded, "I had a courier send 'a letter from a friend' to him that said he will find something of great power in the dungeon."

"Are you sure it's a good idea to have him find a word wall before Alduin's return?" asked Mara.

Talos shrugged and said, "I talked to Akatosh about it and we both agreed it could be an interesting challenge for Ignis to figure out the meaning of the glowing word and why only he could see it."

Mara took a look back at the screen and asked, "Where are his friends at? I thought they would have joined him on this quest."

Talos stated, "Godur is still studying that Dwarven Sphere and Bri is making sure he remembers to eat and keeping Vondur and Neloth away. Amelia did come at first but she had some family issue in Solitude to deal with so Ignis continued on his own." He got up and walked to the exit. "Have fun."

Mara watched him leave and sighed before turning back towards the screen. ' _I can't believe he just left her in Solitude._ ' She watched Ignis resume his walk towards the ruin.

* * *

After hours of walking, Ignis had finally reached Deepwood Redoubt. He sighed in relief. ' _That took longer than I thought it would._ ' He left Solitude early in the morning, expecting few, if any, encounters along the way. Instead, he had to fight four packs of wolves, three ice wraiths, two large groups of bandits, and an angry frost troll. ' _Hopefully this doesn't take too long. I want to be back at Solitude before it gets too dark._ ' He jogged towards the entrance and noticed something wrong immediately.

The Forsworn guarding the ruin were dead. One took an arrow to the right eye. Another lost both arms and had a large stab wound in the chest. Another lost her head. Ignis noticed some footprints around the foot of the stairs. He knelt down to look at them. While he was not an expert in tracking, he could see at least three sets of footprints, one was wearing light armor and the others had heavy boots on. Ignis sighed, ' _Guess I'm not alone here. Question is, are they friendly to mages?_ ' He walked up the stairs to the entrance. He noticed another forsworn missing a head near the door. He opened the door and noticed the lack of light immediately. Ignis cast Candlelight and conjured a sword in his right hand. ' _Time to get started._ '

He walked through the ruin and noticed several more Forsworn corpses lying around. He heard the sounds of combat coming from a bridge above him. He walked through more narrow corridors before he came to the covered bridge that he saw earlier. He could see three men in heavy armor fighting Forsworn at the far end of the bridge. At the middle of the bridge, there was a woman wearing impractical and revealing armor with a bow waiting to get a clear shot at the Forsworn. ' _How in Oblivion does she stay warm in that outfit? I can see most of her back and I don't see a bag to carry a cloak or anything else._ ' He took a step forward, making just enough noise that she noticed him and turned around a shot an arrow at Ignis. He quickly moved to the side, avoiding the arrow by a couple of inches. He took cover around the corner and yelled, "Check your target next time. I'm not with the Forsworn." He heard the sounds of combat at the other end stop. He waited a moment before he heard a response.

"What group are you with?" the woman asked. Based on the sounds he guessed that the others were approaching this end of the bridge.

Ignis said, "I'm with the College of Winterhold. I'm just here to investigate some 'source of power' that a contact of mine told me was here." He paused and added, "So what group are you all with?"

One of the men spoke, "We're most of the Circle of the Companions."

Another one said, "You can come out now. We aren't going to attack you." Ignis could of sworn he heard some muttering at that.

Ignis got Ironflesh ready to cast and said, "Okay, I'm coming out. If anyone tries to attack me, I will strike back this time." He stepped out and saw the group. One of them was an old bald man that was blind in one eye. Two of them looked enough alike to be twin brothers. Those three were wearing the same armor design, steel with a wolf motif on the helmet, neck, and gauntlets. The woman was a redhead whose outfit revealed too much for this time of the year. "I suppose we will be working together for the rest of this ru-"

"You can just leave." the bald one said, "We don't need to babysit a weak mage in a dangerous area like this." Ignis noticed that the old man had a bleeding cut on the upper part of his left arm. He charged up a healing spell and quickly took care of the wound. The warriors were in shock for a moment before Ignis smirked.

"So I take it you don't want someone that can heal any injury you may get during the upcoming fights."

The woman quickly spoke up, "Actually a healer would be quite useful considering how much trouble we had so far." The twins nodded in agreement while the old guy sighed in defeat.

Ignis asked, "How much trouble did you actually have? There were only fifteen corpses behind us."

"They were very skilled for Forsworn," the old man said. "You wouldn't know since you didn't fight them."

Ignis shrugged and said, "You're right. I haven't fought any Forsworn." The old man smiled and turned around. Ignis continued in his head, ' _I have, however, fought bandits, Dwarven Automatons, Falmer, packs of wolves, ice wraiths, and a frost troll._ ' Ignis walked forward as the rest of the group moved towards the other end of the bridge. They walked up the stairs at that end and went through the door. They came out to what looked like a small valley but when they went through the arch to their right, they stopped to gaze out a large, snow covered valley.

There was a winding path down the small hill they were on. At the end of the path was a bridge across a small river. The bridge lead to a Nordic style ruin with several Forsworn tents set up all over the area. The camp was divided into four general areas from what Ignis could see. The central camp was just up a set of stairs from the bridge; two side camps and towers were across a bridge over a waterfall to the left and right of the main camp; and up above the main camp was what Ignis guessed were the command tents. Just a bit higher to the left of the possible command area was another ruin entrance and large waterfall to the left of that. Ignis could see a few Forsworn from where he was but he was sure there were a lot more in tents or in the tower. The Companions were about to walk down to the bridge so he quickly stopped them, "Hold up. We need to know what we are dealing with here." He knelt down and cast Detect Life. This time he was able to hold it for twice as long as normal and during that time he was able to count thirty opponents down there. ' _This is not going to be easy,_ ' Ignis thought.

"What are you doing?" the old man said in a derogatory tone. "Just because we let you come along doesn't mean you can give us orders."

Ignis sighed before he answered, "If I'm going to keep all of you alive down there, I need to know how many opponents we have so I can pace my magicka usage," Ignis paused for a second to let that sink in. "There are thirty Forsworn down there and since I couldn't detect anything at the higher camp, due to its distance, there could be several more or a few Briarhearts. And some of them are likely necromancers and conjurers so we will have to worry about enemies being resurrected and summoned."

The group took a few minutes to go over a plan to get through the area, during which time names were exchanged. Aela and Ignis found elevated areas to overlook the battlefield while Farkas, Vilkas, and Skjor got close to the bridge. Ignis placed a frost rune in the snow near the far end of the bridge. Once it was placed, Aela began to shoot any of the Forsworn archers and casters she could see. The close range fighters ran towards the bridge to fight the Companions but they ran into some problems. First, none spotted the rune until one stepped on it and caused an explosion of ice and snow to come out and cover up another cast. Second, they failed to notice the new rune until another Forsworn stepped on it and caused a blast of fire to burn most of the Forsworn nearby, melt the snow and ice created earlier and, yet again, hide another rune placement. At this point, most opponents would have started looking for another rune but these Forsworn were not that bright. A Forsworn stepped on the rune and caused a burst of lightning to shock the all the Forsworn in the newly created water. Now they finally started looking at the ground in paranoia of another rune so they missed two Frenzy spells hit two of the Forsworn and caused more chaos among them as the two attack everyone nearby. Between this barrage of spells and Aela's arrows, twenty of the Forsworn had already fallen and the group was completely unharmed.

The group moved up towards the ruin to fight the remaining Forsworn who came from the right to join up with the main force. Aela found a new spot to shoot from while Ignis focused on healing the Companions in melee combat. It seemed completely under control until another Forsworn joined the fight. This one, Ignis could tell, was much stronger than the others in both melee and magical combat. The Forsworn had a pale complexion and a large hole around the area his heart should have been at. Instead, a briarheart was placed into the body. He turned to attack the Companions with spells and since Aela did not have a good shot at him, Ignis had to get involved.

The Forsworn Briarheart charged up a shock spell and aimed at the Companions locked in combat with six Forsworn. Ignis quickly charged up a ward and got in the way just before the spell fired. The bolt of lightning hit the ward, shattering it in a single hit but, fortunately for Ignis, doing no damage to Ignis. The Briarheart charged up an ice spell and fired it at Ignis, who put up another ward to block the swirling storm of ice and snow coming at the warriors and him. The spell hit the ward and was almost completely negated. The Companions felt a slight snowy breeze but little more. Ignis cast Ironflesh and summoned a sword in his right hand as the Briarheart drew his two swords. The Briarheart charged at Ignis, who summoned a second sword and took a fighting stance, and swung his bone swords inwards from both sides.

Ignis deflected the swords by swinging both blades upward and knocking the swords away. He tried to then cut downwards to disable the shoulders but the Forsworn turned his swords to catch and lock Ignis's blades between the spikes on the swords. He swung his swords outward, turning them at the same time, to bring them together low and stab upwards. Ignis could not get his swords in position in time so he moved the magical armor to the area the swords would hit. The blades impacted the magical armor but failed to go through. Instead, the tips of the Forsworn's swords broke off, surprising the Briarheart. Ignis, taking advantage of this, quickly swung his swords inward and cut off both of the Briarheart's arms. He swung again to take off the legs, causing the Forsworn to fall onto the ground. He still did not die so, while the Briarheart started yelling about their ridiculous ideology, Ignis stabbed him in his false heart, killing him instantly. ' _Probably should have aimed there to start with. Could have saved some time,_ ' Ignis thought.

* * *

Mara watched as Ignis and the Companions finished off the rest of the Forsworn in the valley. Ignis gathered up most of the loot scattered around the area. After everyone was ready, they entered Hag's End. In moments, they had to fight witches and a teleporting hagraven. "Hagravens," Mara muttered in disgust, "filthy creatures." They fought their way through the dungeon until they arrived at the final room of the ruin. "Time to see how he reacts." Mara had a slight giggle at the unintentional pun.

* * *

"Finally made it to the treasure room," Farkas said. The rest of the group caught up with him and looked at the room. It was a fairly large room with rubble to the left and right. In front of them was a wide set of stairs leading to an open area with an enchanting table and a stone table off to the left. The Companions went towards the table while Ignis looked to the right. He saw a large, curved wall with some strange sculpture along the top. On the wall, Ignis could see some scratches that looked like writing. One word in particular appeared to have an ethereal glow that increased in intensity as Ignis approached it.

"What is this thing?" Ignis asked. Vilkas glanced over at him and saw what Ignis was looking at.

"That? That is just an old epitaph wall that is seen in most Nordic ruins. It's nothing special."

Ignis nodded but he disagreed since now not only could he see more light coming from that word, but his vision was darkening on everything else and he could hear some ancient chanting voices. He would say something about it but, ' _They will just think I'm crazy for seeing lights and hearing voices._ ' He stood in front of the glowing word when the glow stopped and suddenly Ignis knew the word was 'Tiid' and it meant 'time.' Ignis got his journal out and copied the word into it and added the translation to it.

"Damn it!" Vilkas shouted. Ignis went over to them but before he could say anything Vilkas continued, "The fragment isn't here." Ignis noticed there was still another door and he went through it while the others were talking.

Aela mentioned, "There were several locked doors behind us. Maybe it is behind one of them." The sound of a spell impacting a hagraven came from outside but the Companions ignored it.

Skjor pointed out, "That isn't going to help if none of us can unlock the doors or break the locks."

Farkas noticed something, "Where did that mage run off to?" Before anyone could say something, Ignis came back through the door and walked up to the Companions.

"I assume this is the fragment you were talking about?" Ignis handed them a fragment of an ancient weapon. "There was a table outside that had that lying on it. Also that cowardly hagraven is finally dead." Ignis turned back towards the open door and was about to leave when Aela spoke up.

"Ignis, wait," Ignis stopped. "You've shown true courage and skill in combat. If you want, you would fit right in with the Companions."

Ignis thought about it for a moment before answering, "I think I'll have to decline that offer. I still have a couple years of education to finish at the College. But maybe in a few years I could join."

Aela, in a slightly sad tone, said, "A shame. The offer will still be open if you want."

* * *

Mara watched as the group left the ruins and began the journey to Solitude. "Looks like Amelia might have some competition," Mara noted. After a few hours, they made it to Solitude. After Ignis and Amelia had a quick conversation in the Winking Skeever about his going off on his own and the Word Wall Ignis saw in Hag's End, they decided to take a carriage back to Winterhold.

* * *

After Ignis and Amelia finished gathering up the last of their belongings, they left the inn to take a carriage back to the College. Back at the Winking Skeever, unnoticed by Mara or anyone else, a man that sat at the table next to the one Ignis and Amelia spoke at got up and left the inn. The man looked like an ordinary Imperial. Any passerby would have seen a man in his early thirties with black hair, blue eyes and a medium build. If one could hear his thoughts, however, they would quickly change their opinion. ' _So, it seems that the Last Dragonborn has arrived. It looks like the Dragons will return soon and then it will be our time to rise,_ ' the man thought. Most would have added an evil laugh after that thought but that would just give him away. ' _But first, I shall have to wait and see if this_ Ignis _can beat Alduin, otherwise the whole plan will fall apart._ ' The man was now alone on the road and if a more perceptive person were to look at him now, they would see glowing orange eyes narrowing in a hungry gaze.

* * *

 **Sun's Dawn 4E 200**

Dibella entered the Chamber to find Mara lounging on one of the couches and watching Ignis studying alone in the Arcanaeum. "Boring shift I take it?" Dibella said while sitting down.

Mara looked over at her, "It was interesting at first when Ignis learned the first word of Slow Time but since then he has just gone to class and tried to figure out what happened. He has barely interacted with anyone beyond the bare minimum for the entire month."

Dibella shuddered at the thought of watching that for a month. She then asked, "Has anything happened with Amelia yet?" Mara shook her head. "Well, how much does he know about being Dragonborn?"

Mara shrugged, "I don't think he has figured it out yet." She got up and said, "Have fun, I need to get some rest after watching one this boring." She left the room.

Dibella watched for a week without anything happening...

* * *

' _If that is how powerful a Dragonborn can be, just what am I supposed to fight?_ ' Ignis thought as he closed a book on the life of Tiber Septim. After a month of studying, he had put together a theory that he was a Dragonborn and that is why the word glowed when he approached it. What worried him is that a being like a Dragonborn doesn't come around without a reason. Ignis looked around the table to find another book that talked about the Dragonborn. After a minute of searching, he found it underneath a stack of books. Ignis opened the _Book of the Dragonborn,_ not expecting to gain any real information on the threat or purpose, but when he reached the end, he found a troubling passage about 'The Prophecy of the Dragonborn'...

 _When misrule takes its place at the eight corners of the world..._

 _When the Brass Tower walks and Time is reshaped..._

 _When the thrice-blessed fail and the Red Tower trembles..._

 _When the Dragonborn Ruler loses his throne, and the White Tower falls..._

 _When the Snow Tower lies sundered, kingless, bleeding..._

 _The World-Eater wakes, and the Wheel turns on the Last Dragonborn._

Ignis went back downstairs to grab a book on the history of the Third Era. He came back to the desk and turned to the pages on last fifty years of the era. As he read, he thought ' _The Imperial Simulacrum and the shattering of the Staff of Chaos into eight pieces would be the first line. The activation of the Numendium and the Warp in the West is the second. The fall of the Tribunal and the eruption of the Red Mountain is the third. The end of the Septim Dynasty and the Great War is the fourth._ ' The last two lines have not happened yet but Ignis was still uneasy.

' _With so many people in Skyrim opposing the White-Gold Concordat, there is potential for a civil war and the High King is not a warrior so he would not last long. That would fulfill the fifth line._ ' The last line about the World-Eater would mean that Alduin will return to destroy or conquer Tamriel after all the conditions are fulfilled. As for the 'Last Dragonborn' mentioned in the same line, it likely means that the clash between the two would decide the fate of Nirn. ' _And, if I'm right on my theory, that would be me. Which means I have to fight a god... great._ '

Any further musings were cut off when Ignis felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned in surprise to see Amelia looking at him with a worried look. "You need to stop studying like this. You need rest."

Ignis said in a tired voice, "I had to figure out why that word glowed and now I have a good theory on why." Amelia sat down next to him. "From what I can tell, it is likely that I am a 'Dragonborn' and seeing words in the Dragon's tongue like that is one of their abilities."

Amelia raised an eyebrow, "How can you tell? There haven't been that many Dragonborn in history so how are you sure that they all could do that?"

Ignis showed her the book on Tiber Septim, "It mentions in here how Talos could understand the meaning of certain words just by looking at them and could learn the full meaning much faster than the Greybeards could."

Amelia asked, "Why do not seem happy about that? Most people would be excited to find out they are a Dragonborn."

Ignis showed her the _Book of the Dragonborn_ , "This is why. The world tends to operate on a scale most do not understand. For every great force of good, there must be an equal force of evil. In this case, it is Alduin the World-Eater. And based on the wording of the last line here, if I fail the world is doomed."

"How can you be sure the prophecy is coming true? It does mention no one is certain on the meaning."

"I looked at the last years of the Third Era and saw that the first three lines and part of the fourth matched some of the events of those years. The fall of the White Tower like refers to the Great War and the Fall of the Imperial City. As for the fifth line, with all the resentment here towards the White-Gold Concordat, a civil war in Skyrim is likely to happen soon. That leaves the final line which is the battle between Alduin and the Dragonborn."

Amelia asked, "So what should we do about this?"

Ignis sighed and said, "First, we can't tell anyone about this, and yes that includes Godur and Bri, just to make sure that the Thalmor don't find out." Amelia looked slightly angry at that so he added, "I don't want them to be worried for nothing if I'm wrong. Then I need to train to prepare for the fight."

"Just don't work yourself to death like this," Amelia said in a worried tone.

"But if I don't train hard, I won't be ready for the fight," Ignis said.

"You'll be fine," Amelia said in a reassuring voice. "If you train at the rate you were going before you went to that ruin, you would be a master of magic in a couple years. And if you train like this, you may not survive to the fight."

"Thank you," Ignis said and gave Amelia a hug.

Amelia smiled, "It's what friends are for."

 **Second AN: Please review**


	6. Chapter 5

**AN: I do not own the Elder Scrolls franchise**

 **Chapter 5**

 **Frostfall 4E 200**

Mara entered the Chamber to start her shift only to be met with a glaring Talos. She asked hesitantly, "What?"

"How did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Manage to get another dungeon to watch while the rest of us were stuck watching him study?" Talos tossed her the book as he went back to his spot on the couch. Mara went to her spot as she read the notes...

 **Divines' Recap**

 **Morning Star 4E 200**

 **Mara:** Ignis went to Hag's End on his own where he met the Circle. They didn't like him at first since he was a mage, but by the end his combat skill and healing abilities made them want him to join the Companions. He refused and they were sad, mainly Aela for some reason *knowing grin*. Also he found his first Word Wall (TIID by the way). He seems confused. Ignis has been researching the Word Walls and the Dragon Language for a few weeks now.

 **Sun's Dawn 4E 200**

 **Dibella:** Ignis suspects that he may be Dragonborn but he is not certain. He actually seems worried at the prospect. It has given him the motivation to train even harder. Ignis actually hugged Amelia during their talk. It was cute:) Also, Ignis and Bri worked together to create a summon familiar spell that can be used to send messages.

 **First Seed 4E 200**

 **Stendarr:** Ignis has mastered adept level spells in all of the magical schools. He has started meditating to understand TIID. From his mutterings and some of the notes I was able to see, he seems to see things in a very different way compared to most. He seems to believe that time is a fourth dimension.

 **Rain's Hand 4E 200**

 **Arkay:** Ignis has stopped working on trying to understand TIID and resumed his magical studies. He is now able to maintain the telekinesis spell for ten seconds and is able to use it to move people by targeting their clothes/armor. He tested this when that brat Neloth tried to mess with Ignis's group and Ignis pushed Neloth away using this technique.

 **Second Seed 4E 200**

 **Akatosh:** Mara and Dibella, how many times am I going to have to tell you two to take this seriously? Ignis has been drawing up several sketches of magical items including some sort of pouch that can hold many objects without adding much weight and a blade made of magic. Both of the items seem to be in an early stage of their design. Ignis has found a book about the Dragon Language with far better translations than most.

 **Mid Year 4E 200**

 **Zenithar:** I think they are going to keep on doing this regardless of what we say. Just let them have their fun as long as they still report on what is going on. Ignis has learned the waterbreathing enchant and is now selling rings with the enchant to make money. He has earned several thousand gold with this method.

 **Sun's Height 4E 200**

 **Kynareth:** I have to agree with Zenithar on this, just let them have their fun on the recap otherwise they will start messing with the people in Tamriel for fun. On the subject of having fun, Ignis tried using the conjured bow and he cannot aim at all. Eventually, he gave up with the bow and just used a spell to fire the arrows directly and it worked much better.

 **Last Seed 4E 200**

 **Julianos:** Ignis has mastered expert level spells in every school of magic. He is starting to prepare for study of the master level spells. Ignis has been studying Dovahzul and is writing something in that language. I have no idea what it is though.

 **Hearthfire 4E 200**

 **Talos:** Yea, I got a quick glimpse at what he is writing and I got lost within seconds. I understood the individual lines but not the overall meaning of what he wrote. Ignis has mastered enchanting and celebrated by getting an awesome new robe/coat with powerful enchantments. He can now cast Destruction and Alteration spells for free and the other schools at an 80% reduction when you take the enchantments and his own skill into account. Ignis and his friends are going to Markarth to assist the court mage with some Dwemer projects.

Mara raised her eyebrow and said, "Doesn't seem that boring. Mastering enchanting in less than two years is impressive." In her head though, ' _Dang, missed the hug._ ' She looked over at Talos, who had not moved from his spot or look like he was going to move, and asked, "Are you going back?"

"No. I am not going to miss Ignis fighting through a dungeon." Mara sighed and turned toward the screen.

* * *

 **Understone Keep, Markarth**

Aicantar looked at the group in front of him. While his uncle contacted the College for assistance with clearing Nchuand-Zel, he didn't actually expect that much support. The group in front of him apparently had experience with Dwemer Ruins and they could fight well. The group consisted of a Breton girl in the standard robes of a College Adept; an Imperial woman in the robes of a College expert; a massive Nord in heavy steel armor with robes on the outside. The last one was in a stranger outfit. Rather than wearing a set of robes like most mages, he wore a red cloth longcoat with black areas around the shoulders and the waist. He also had a red and black shirt and black pants under the coat with red and black boots. Around his waist was a belt with three gold loops of metal with gems on one side and the same in silver on the other. He composed himself and asked, "Are all of you ready to deal with the Falmer infestation inside the dig site?" They nodded. "Good. Now, since my uncle is currently in his museum, I will show you the way to the excavation." They all started to walk there when Aicantar asked the guy in the coat, "What is with the coat? I thought College mages tended to stick to the robes?"

He shrugged "They do for the most part, but there is no rule that we have to wear the robes they give us. As for why I'm wearing this outfit in particular. I wanted an outfit that didn't restrict my movement like the robes but still had enough to keep me warm. This was the best I could come up with. And I like red with some black as colors because it is intimidating to enemies and reassuring to friends."

"I see. Well I wish you all good luck." They had arrived at the entrance to the site and Aicantar let them in.

* * *

 **Ten minutes later...**

"I hate spiders," Amelia muttered angrily while the rest of the group nodded in silent agreement. The group had just gotten past a tunnel filled with Frostbite Spiders ranging in size between just large enough to grab your face to as big as a house. Needless to say, Ignis and Amelia fired off a lot of Incinerate spells to reduce the spiders into piles of ash. After getting through the tunnel, they reached the main part of the Dwarven Ruin. They came into a large cavern with Dwemer structures all over the room. In front of them was a bridge that went all the way to the opposite side of the cavern, crossing through a tower in the center of the cave. They could see several buildings around the edges of the cavern that likely led to smaller dungeons they would have to fight through.

And, just like the last Dwemer Ruin they entered, the place was crawling with Falmer and Chaurus bugs, both ground-based and a flying variety. Several of those bugs were moving towards the quartet on the bridge. Ignis and Amelia stepped to the front of the group and charged up high-level Destruction spells. Ignis said, "Okay. Light them up," before they each fired a pair of Incinerate spells.

* * *

Mara and Talos watched in awe as the pair unleashed a barrage of spells to annihilate the swarm of Chaurus and a few unlucky Falmer on the bridge. They watched as the group fought through the dungeon with incredible displays of power and skill. Amelia continued using the barrage of spells to defeat enemies while Ignis alternated between that method and using telekinesis to fire a weapon at a lone enemy. Godur continued to use his strength to kill his opponents with a punch to the face. Bri, while unable to directly harm any of the enemies, still held her own with Rally spells on her friends, Fear and Frenzy spells on the enemies, and using a new spell to create noise at a distance without giving her location up. Talos was impressed with the last one, "She is able to use a spell that works like the Throw Voice shout? Not bad."

Mara was more impressed with Ignis and Amelia's teamwork, "Notice how well Ignis and Amelia are working together now. It's quite lovely." Talos just rolled his eyes at that. Mara, however, had just noticed something interesting about Ignis's fighting style. "What happened to his strategy? He just seems to fight by overwhelming his opponents." Talos thought about the fights up until now and realized Mara had a point.

"You're right. All he has used is power. Though the telekinesis trick shows some tactical ability. Perhaps the reason he isn't using strategy is he doesn't need it for weak opponents like these."

"Let's hope so. Because if you're wrong, he is going to have some serious trouble later." The pair continued to watch as the group flipped a switch that activated all the Dwarven Automatons in the ruin.

"Why did they do that?" Mara asked.

Talos responded, "The machines will stay in the lower parts of the ruin and prevent more Falmer from entering while the upper areas can be cleared of Automatons and explored easily." Mara nodded and they continued to watch as the group came across a powerful automaton.

* * *

"Another Centurion," Ignis noted before continuing, "I'll handle this one on my own."

Amelia asked, "Any reason why?"

Ignis shrugged, "I just want to see if I could take one down on my own. Would be a good way to see how much I've improved since the one I fought a year ago." Ignis thought, ' _And I want to test my new technique._ ' The others seemed okay with it so Ignis cast an overcharged Ebonyflesh, conjured two swords, and charged at the unaware automaton. He swung his blades at the leg of the machine and the blades barely scratched the thick armor though the attack did draw the attention of the Centurion. It swung its hammer arm towards Ignis who quickly ducked under it and threw his left sword behind his opponent before using Telekinesis to summon the sword back at a fast enough speed to impale the automaton in the back of the left shoulder before the blade dissipated. The Centurion's axe arm swung down at Ignis, who quickly moved to the right to avoid it before focusing his armor on to his left leg and stomping his left foot on the weapon to keep the arm stuck in the ground. The Centurion tried to crush Ignis with the hammer arm but Ignis jumped to the right to avoid it, causing the arm to slam into the trapped arm and shattering the axe. Ignis sighed, ' _Guess I can't use it on something this weak. Back to the simple strategy._ ' Ignis overcharged an Incinerate spell as he backed up and then, once he was far enough away, he fired the spell against the Centurion. The Automaton staggered at the hit which Gave Ignis enough time to charge another one and fired it just after the Centurion was able to move. The pattern continued five more times until the final blast knocked the Centurion down. Ignis was disappointed, ' _That was just too easy and boring. I need a real challenge if I want to be ready to fight Alduin. Boredom would cause me to get sloppy and Alduin would win easily._ '

His friends came over to congratulate him. While Bri was impressed with the win, Amelia was worried at the risk he took. Before he could reassure her, Godur spoke up from his spot next to the destroyed Centurion, "This was a Centurion Master model that is roughly twice as powerful as the Guardian model. One of these could demolish a dozen skilled fighters with ease. And you effortlessly took it down, " he finished in slight awe.

Ignis was surprised, ' _Not only did I have no trouble with a Centurion, but I easily beat the strongest model. Maybe I'm more ready than I thought. Still need keep training to be sure._ ' He spoke, "I guess I've improved more than I thought. That or the Centurion was in poor shape considering how easily the arm broke." He shrugged before continuing, "I think we've cleared out the last of the automatons. I still want to check out that locked room back in the control area but we should tell Calcelmo we finished the job first." The group agreed and went back towards the entrance to inform Calcelmo. After an hour, the group returned with Calcelmo, Aicantar, and several of their guards to start cataloging the artifacts in Nchuand-Zel. Ignis and Godur went back to the locked room to try and open the door. After a few minutes of trying to unlock it physically and magically, Ignis gave up and just handed Godur a conjured warhammer and with one swing the lock was shattered and the door opened.

The pair coughed as a large amount of dust came out of the room. After the cloud cleared, Ignis cast a Candlelight spell and fired a Magelight spell into the room. They walked into the room and looked around. The room was fairly small and poorly lit due to the broken light on the left and dim one on the right. What really caught the pair's attention were the stone and metal structures in the middle of the room. The one on the left was roughly five feet long, three feet wide, three feet tall in the front and four in the back. On the sloped part was a dwarven metal panel with several switches, gears and etchings making a rough map of the ruin. The right one was similar but it was clearly damaged. Further back in the room was a set of shelves with dozens of metal cubes on them. Near that was a pair of pedestals made of some blue crystal and dwarven metal. Ignis asked, "Are these what I think they are?"

Godur walked over to the large panels and after a few seconds he answered, "I think these control various parts of the city like the steam pipes and lighting. The cubes are Lexicons capable of storing information and the pedestals can change the information on the cubes." He looked back at Ignis and asked, "Why did you want to know?"

"Let's just say I have an idea for something incredible using these. And we are going to have to find a way convince Amelia and Bri to stay in Markarth for awhile along with getting a hold of some of the materials in here." Ignis started to walk away then added, "It would also give you a chance to study the centurions and other automatons without interruptions." Godur smirked at that.

"This will be a fun conversation."

* * *

Mara and Talos watched the pair convince the girls to stay in the city and get a portion of the dwarven objects in that room. They were still confused. Talos muttered, "I still have no idea just what Ignis is planning on making."

Mara thought about it and could only come to one conclusion, "Maybe he is trying to make his own version of one of those control terminals."

"Ignis is good but even he can't pull that off. Can he?" Talos got up and walked towards the exit. "Well, I'm out. Have fun watching whatever he is doing." Mara sighed as he left.

' _This could be very boring. Although, a project like this might get Amelia and Ignis closer together._ '

* * *

 **Evening Star 4E 200**

Ignis was getting frustrated with his project. While he had made an incredible amount of progress over the previous months, using Dovahzul to program the Dwemer devices was not easy after all, the fact that he had to stay in this room, deep in the ruin, in order to work on the terminals was constricting. Though with most of the snow cleared from last month's blizzard, he supposed he could go for for a walk around the city to clear his head. He left the room and, on the way out of the ruin, he told his friends and Calcemo where he was going. His friends offered to come with him but he turned them down, saying he would only gone for an hour.

After about an hour of walking around the city, he started to return to the keep by the main walkway when he saw two people arguing outside a house. The one in robes was asking the man in studded armor if he saw anyone enter or leave the house. The man in studded armor said that the house was abandoned and walked away. The one that stayed walked up to Ignis and asked, "Excuse me, but do you know anything about this house? Seen anyone enter or leave?"

Ignis said, "No, I did not. Why are you asking?"

The man said, "I am a member of the Vigilants of Stendarr and there is suspected daedric activity in this house. I have been trying to find out if anyone knows about this. So far, I have had no luck."

"Do you need any help dealing with this?" Ignis asked.

The man sighed, "Yes, I could use some help. Are you ready to enter?"

Ignis got a spell ready to cast and answered, "Just give me a minute." He cast the spell and sent a small purple light towards Understone Keep.

"What was that?"

"A spell a friend of mine made that allows people to quickly send messages over a distance of about two miles. I'm just telling them what we are doing in case we need backup."

"A useful spell. We should get going." He opened the door and the two stepped into the house. They quickly saw that no one had lived in the house for years with all the dust and broken furniture. The pair looked around the room and saw no signs of daedric worship in this room. The Vigilant walked down a set of stairs entered the basement. He stopped and began to run away, "This is no ordinary Daedra." Suddenly the furniture moved through the air to block the door and small objects began floating around the room. "What the..."

A deep voice sounded through the room, "Did you mortals believe it would be that simple? I am always watching." The vigilant began to panic about the voice. "I AM MOLAG BAL, LORD OF DOMINATION and this is MY DOMAIN." The vigilant panicked even more. "Kill the vigilant if you want power, mage."

Ignis shrugged and said, "How about I don't and you let us out, jackass." The voice was silent, not expecting a response like that.

"VIGILANT, kill the mage if you want to live."

The vigilant drew his mace, "I'm sorry but you must die," he said in a hollow sounding voice.

Ignis waited for the man to get close then he cast a Paralysis spell, causing the vigilant to fall. Ignis kicked the furniture away from the door and, when the door did not open, he cast a flame spell around the lock then quickly froze it to shatter the lock. He grabbed the vigilant and dragged him out of the house... just as his friends arrived. He quickly spoke, "Keep this guy stunned. He's under the control of Molag Bal." They were stunned at that. "I'm going to go back in there to destroy his altar and block his influence here."

Amelia stepped forward "Let me help. Together we can destroy it much faster."

"No. If we both go in there, he will try to make you fight me and, since we are close in combat ability, we could both be injured or killed." Ignis put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. He can't control me so I can handle this on my own."

Amelia hugged him. After a moment of surprise, he returned it. "Just be careful."

"I will," they let go of each other and Ignis went back into the house. He quickly made his way to the basement. After he looked for a moment, he found the altar and a rusty mace on it.

"You are strong, mortal. Few are able to resist my mental control so well. Serve me, and you will become even stronger."

Ignis paused and spoke, "What mental control? I haven't felt anything the entire time."

The voice exploded with rage, "YOU DARE TO MOCK ME, MORTAL! I AM MOLAG BAL, LORD OF-"

"Domination, yea, you already said that. I'm just going to take that mace, destroy your altar and go."

"You think it will be so simple to defy me-" Ignis used Telekinesis to summon the mace and dropped it at his feet and started casting spells. "Even if you destroy my altar, my servants will hunt you down and make you beg for mercy. NO ONE CAN DEFY MY WILL FOREVER." Ignis finished placing all the runes and picked the mace up before walking away.

"If this has been any indication, your servants won't be much of a threat." Ignis boasted before setting off the runes.

* * *

Tyranus was going mad with the voice in his head. It told him to kill these mages but he could not even move thanks to the large Nord's hold. The voice continued to get louder and more insistent, making things even worse. Suddenly, he heard a loud boom from the house he was just in. In the same moment, the voice was silenced giving him full control of his mind once more. He spoke in a broken voice, "What happened? I can't hear the monster's voice anymore." The man did not let him go.

The Breton asked, "Think it is safe to let him go yet?"

The Imperial girl said, "Not until Ignis comes out of there." They waited a moment and heard a noise coming from the house. It was...footsteps?

The man he now knew to be Ignis walked out of the house holding a large mace in his left hand. The Imperial moved towards him but he held his right hand up to stop her. He walked over to Tyranus and dropped the mace in front of him. "Do you have any desire to use that weapon?" he said in a cautious tone.

Tyranus spoke quickly, "I don't want it except to seal it away somewhere it can never be used again."

Ignis looked at the Nord and said, "Godur, you can let him go." Godur released his hold on Tyranus.

The Imperial girl asked, "What happened in there?"

Ignis shrugged and said, "I went down to the basement and found the altar and that mace. Molag Bal tried to tempt me with power but I just mocked him before taking the mace with Telekinesis and setting up enough rune spells to destroy the altar. Then I just walked out here." He said this in a nonchalant tone, like mocking one of the strongest Daedric Princes was something anyone could do. He turned back to Tyranus and asked, "How do intend to deal with the mace?"

Tyranus answered, "I have a crate in the inn that can hold a Daedric artifact and block it's influence. I was then going to bring it to the Hall of the Vigilant to arrange a more permanent seal."

Ignis nodded, "Go and get it."

Tyranus ran towards the inn, thinking as he did so. ' _To think there are people with the will to defy the Daedric Princes. If we recruit him into the Vigilants of Stendarr, we would have a good chance of ending daedric worship in Skyrim._ '

* * *

Unseen by the vigilant, the mages, or even the watching Divine, an invisible figure heard and saw the entire event. He smirked when he saw his lord's mace get placed into the crate. ' _Now that could be a useful addition to my plans._ '

A second voice entered his mind, ' _ **Do not underestimate him. He will not follow orders from anyone, even I cannot control him.**_ '

' _True, but if we can limit his options to ones he thinks are beneficial to him he can still be used._ '

' _ **Even so, he must die once the Tyranny of the Sun is complete.**_ '

' _As you wish, my lord._ '

* * *

 **Morning Star 4E 201**

Bri and her friends, along with Calcelmo and Aicnatar came to the room Ignis was using for the 'demonstration' of his project. They entered the room and walked over to Ignis, who was standing next to a stone table. On that table were two metal boxes made of Dwarven metal. Each one was three feet tall, two feet wide and two feet deep at the top two feet and three at the bottom foot. The bottom section had a panel with several raised squares with markings on them while the top had a dark, mirror-like glass that almost covered the entire face. However, they were not the same. The one on the left had a split panel. The left side had those raised squares with recognizable letters, numbers, and punctuation marks along with several arrows. On the right of that panel was a circle with glass in the middle. The right box had fewer squares that were recognizable as magical symbols and a set of four arrows. The right side of the box had a piece of metal attached to the bottom on a hinge that was folded upwards to attach to the side. To the right of this box was a strange gauntlet.

Godur asked, "So, what do these actually do? You never told us what they were."

Ignis said, "Watch and learn." He turned towards Calcelmo and asked, "Can you write your name in an open spot in this book?" Ignis handed him one of his books on Dwarves.

Calcelmo turned part of the way through the book and wrote his name at the bottom. After it was dried, he handed it back. "What exactly is the point of that?"

Ignis said, "Just watch." He walked over to the left box and placed the book on the circle then pressed one of the squares to the left. The glass suddenly lit up and the group could see words written on there. He pressed another one that had a green plus sign on it that caused a white box to appear on the glass. He then said, "Okay, the book is _Dwarves, v3_ ," he pressed a series of squares that caused that title to appear in the box. The group was already amazed but Ignis was not done yet. He pressed another square, "And scan." The circle lit up and its light seemed to travel through the book before the light faded and a bit of text saying 'Scan Complete' appeared on the glass. He then pressed another series of buttons to get to a list of book titles to appear. Ignis went through the list until he found the new title and pressed another square to cause more text to appear. In this case, it was the opening lines of Calcelmo's book in his writing. Ignis opened the book and found the signature, "The signature is on the bottom of page 35." He hit another button and caused another box to appear. He hit the squares with '3' and '5' on them then another that said 'Enter'. The text changed to the words on page 35 and at the bottom was Calcelmo's signature. "This is what I am tentatively calling the 'Archive Terminal', a device capable of storing the information of an entire library of books and viewing it in an easy to read format." He turned to face Calcelmo and said, "This is your payment for letting me have those materials from the ruin."

Calcelmo said, "But I don't know how to use this device."

Ignis shrugged, "Don't worry, I'll show how it works while I make the second one over the next week." Ignis then walked over to the right machine and the gauntlet and said, "Now this one is the truly amazing terminal." He picked up the gauntlet and brought the side of the terminal down, revealing an enchanting table and placed the the gauntlet in the center. The gauntlet was made of steel that was a bit thicker than most gauntlets, had a ruby in the center of the outer forearm and the back of the hand, and had a glass panel on the inside of the forearm. Ignis spoke up, "This terminal is capable of more complex enchantments than what an ordinary mage could do. For example..." He pressed a series of buttons on the device and used a common soul gem to enchant something on the gauntlet which, with the exception of the panel, glowed for a moment before returning to normal. Ignis put the gauntlet on his left arm and walked to an open part of the room and turned towards Amelia and asked, "Do mind standing over there and helping out?" he pointed to a spot ten feet away from him.

Amelia walked over and asked, "Sure. What do you need me to do?"

"I need you to cast your strongest offensive spells at me." Before she could say anything he added, "Don't worry. I have a way to block the spells." Amelia nodded and, though she was worried, she charged up an overcharged Firebolt. Ignis held his left arm out like he was holding a shield and pressed his index finger into his palm. A large Ward spell appeared out of the now glowing gem on his forearm. Amelia fired her spell that did absolutely nothing to the ward. Ignis said, "You can try harder than that." Amelia proceeded to use every strong spell she knew to try to break the ward but nothing worked. After a few minutes of this, Amelia stopped due to lack of magicka and exhaustion but Ignis didn't even seem to be sweating.

Amelia panted, "How... are you doing that?"

Ignis walked over to her and said, "The gauntlet has the ability to project a ward spell that is about equal to a Greater Ward spell. In addition, there is a spell to absorb half of the spell damage that the spell would normally do. That weakens the spell to the point where the ward spell can easily block the remainder of the spell." He then formed a fist and an armor spell covered the fist instantly. "I can also do this without focusing." He opened his hand and the spell dissipated.

Bri asked, "What is the glass panel for on that gauntlet?"

"It is for a later upgrade once I get the enchantment ready. When it is ready, I can use it to cast spells that even a Master mage can't handle."

* * *

 **Chamber of the Divines**

Arkay sat in his couch in stunned silence at what he had just witnessed. After a few minutes he was able to mutter, "Just how much knowledge does Ignis have to be able to do this?" He thought about everything he saw and had to wonder just what Ignis was since what he did should have taken decades of study and experimentation to pull off. "Is he really suffering from amnesia or is something else going on?" He updated the journal and resumed watching.

 **An: Please review and comment**


	7. Chapter 6

**AN: I do not own Elder Scrolls.**

 **Chapter 6**

 **7** **th** **Last Seed 4E 201**

 **Chamber of the Divines**

Dibella entered the chamber to find an unexpected sight. Instead of just finding Mara sitting on the couch, all of the Divines were watching the screen. "Why are all of you here?" she asked.

Stendarr said, "Alduin will be arriving later this month and none of us want to miss it." There several grunts of agreement at that.

Dibella moved to her spot and asked, "Can I have the journal?" Zenithar tossed it over to her and she read quickly...

 **Divines' Recap**

 **Frost Fall 4E 200**

 **Mara:** Talos decided to stick around for the dungeon. Ignis and his friends arrived in Markarth and cleared out a Dwemer Ruin of Falmer and spiders. Ignis found some Dwemer relics that he is interested in. They could be there for a few months the way he is working.

 **Sun's Dusk 4E 200**

 **Dibella:** That sounds about right on the time because not only is Ignis working on those terminals and Godur studying that Centurion but now there is a massive blizzard going on around Markarth. They are going to be stuck there for some time. Maybe now Ignis will make a move with Amelia.

 **Evening Star 4E 200**

 **Stendarr:** Somehow, I doubt that will happen. The blizzard cleared up enough that a Vigilant made it to Markarth to investigate Daedra worship in the area. Ignis and him worked together to destroy an shrine of Molag Bal. He is furious that Ignis could defy him with such ease. They found Bal's mace in the shrine and the Vigilant is going to take it to the Hall of the Vigilant to keep it safe from Daedra worshipers. Ignis has gotten back to work on whatever he is doing with those terminals.

 **Morning Star 4E 201**

 **Arkay:** Ignis has finished his work on his prototype portable terminals. One is able to store text from books that he has "scanned" into the device and read them at will. The other stores spells that he knows and seems to have a limited ability to make new spells and more delicate enchantments. He demonstrated this by making a gauntlet that can project wards. I think he has matched or surpassed the Dwemer in this field.

 **Sun's Dawn 4E 201**

 **Akatosh:** Ignis and his friends have returned to the college. They had a difficult time getting Ignis's terminals across the bridge. Ignis has resumed his studies to prepare for the master level spells. Ignis has officially mastered the School of Alteration. He is close to finishing a workable design for a "bag of holding." Apparently it will be able to hold more supplies. Ulfric Stormcloak has killed the High King. The fight between brothers has begun. Alduin will show up soon.

 **First Seed 4E 201**

 **Zenithar:** Can't wait to see that bag in action. If he sells the bags he could be loaded with gold. There is a massive market for the bag; adventurers will want them to carry loot and soldiers will want them to carry supplies. Ignis has mastered Restoration magic along with his friends Godur and Bri.

 **Rain's Hand 4E 201**

 **Kynareth:** Good news, everyone. Vondur and Neloth were kicked out of the college. Bad news is that it took the death of one of the younger students to happen. Ignis has mastered Illusion magic. Ignis has made the first bag using the terminal to apply the enchantments. It can hold a suit of armor in an area the size of a pocket.

 **Second Seed 4E 201**

 **Julianos:** Ignis has a finalized design for a "Spell Saber." However, it seems even the terminal can't pull this enchantment off. His first Spell Saber overloaded and broke. Ignis has found out about the existence of the Spellmaking Altars. He has asked the college if they could get one. Ignis has mastered Conjuration magic though he is avoiding the use of necromancy. The college has not made a decision on obtaining the altar.

 **Mid Year 4E 201**

 **Talos:** Ignis and Amelia are on a quest to master Destruction Magic. They have to travel all over Skyrim to find the altars for the ritual. Looks like something might happen with them soon. They have mastered Destruction magic. The Empire has sent General Tullius to Skyrim to deal with Ulfric.

 **Sun's Height 4E 201**

 **Mara:** Ignis made another set of terminals that are even smaller by using the same spells from the bags of holding he made to store all of the bulk in a smaller space. He calls them "Tablets." They are small enough that he can put both of them in an ordinary pocket. At the same time, he improved that Gauntlet to have a pocket space behind the panel similar to that of the tablets to allow him to cast spells even a master mage can't use once he obtains the Altar. I hope I don't jinx it, but Ignis and Amelia are really getting close. Maybe they will finally get together soon :) Ignis has made another Spell Saber but this one drains so much magicka that it is useless.

Dibella whistled in awe, "So he mastered all the Schools of magic in a little under two and a half years. Not bad."

Julianos added, "It's even more impressive considering how much time he spent on the tablets and studying Dovahzul. Add to that the time spent on the bags, he really only spent less than two years on studying and mastering magic."

Arkay spoke, "I wonder what he will do for the rest of his life now that he has mastered magic?"

Mara suggested, "Have a family, grow old, and die peacefully?"

"Reconquer Tamriel?" Talos said.

Kynareth offered, "Study more mysteries such as 'What is the meaning of life?'"

Zenithar said, "Become the richest man alive?"

Akatosh shook his head and said, "First, he needs to defeat Alduin and any other threat that shows up. Then he can figure out what to do with his life."

* * *

 **College of Winterhold**

Ignis walked out of the Archmage's Quarters, sighing in relief. ' _Finally got approval to go to Cyrodil and obtain one of those Spellmaking Altars for the College._ ' Ignis walked over to the dorms to tell his friends about this thinking as he walked. ' _Now I just need to figure out what I could offer the Synod that they would value as much as an Altar. The Tablets...no those are too valuable and I don't have anymore lexicons to make more of them. The bags of holding...they can't make them without the Tablet. The Spell Saber...without a working model that will not be enough and I can't make one without the Altar. The Spell Gauntlet... perhaps a weaker version with just the Ward and Armored Fist. FAST...if I pair it with a Gauntlet, that should be enough._ ' He reached the room his friends were studying at and said, "They finally gave us permission to go ahead with the deal."

Amelia looked up from her book to say, "It's about time. When are we heading out?" She then glanced over to where Godur and Bri were helping a first-year student and slightly glared at the girl.

"I was thinking tomorrow. That should give us enough time to pack and get our 'offering' ready." She raised her eyebrow. "I was going to give them a Shield Gauntlet and show them how to use FAST," he clarified. "Godur, think you can make a Gauntlet in less than a day?"

Godur grabbed to object next to him and tossed it to Ignis who caught it in surprise. "I had a hunch that you would need one to trade so I planned ahead." Ignis looked at the object and saw that it was a smoothed Dwarven gauntlet that had the gems set up in the right spots to make the enchantments. "Just make sure that the you are able to get the spells on that saber to work this time."

Ignis averted his eyes, remembering the two times he tried to make a Spell Saber. The first one had materials that could not withstand the spells and shattered when it was turned on. That led to the second failure. ' _Since the first one was only active for a second, I did not know how much magicka was needed to maintain the sword._ ' Ignis said, "I've managed to find the issue with the last one and I know how to fix it with the new model though I can't test it without the Altar."

"Good job, Stella. You got it," Bri said. The others looked over to the two girls to see the first-year using the FAST and was moving the armor around her body with ease.

"Thanks. I probably would of taken much longer without your help," Stella said as she moved the armor around in wonder.

Ignis could tell that she was really happy to learn the technique. Most of the students have difficulty learning FAST and take months to learn how to do it. To learn the technique in a few days was impressive. ' _Then again it is only to be expected for the top first-year student._ ' Stella Dimma was a black haired, blue-eyed Nord only a year younger than Ignis but her skills were comparable to Ignis's group despite only joining six months ago. The woman was humble about her magical abilities though and really looked up to the four remaining third-years. "Not bad. Shall we see if you can use it offensively?" Ignis said.

"Sure," Stella said as she walked towards Ignis. She looked at Ignis through her eyelashes and asked, "Are you ready?" Ignis nodded. Stella did a high left kick right towards his face and a loud impact was heard. His friends were amazed to see Ignis's right hand caught the attack and still looked bored.

Ignis moved his magically armored right hand to the right and said, "Your armor was too spread out to do much damage. That being said, that was a great kick and would have done serious damage to anyone without armor." He let go of her foot and she went back to a normal standing position.

Stella said, "Okay, I wasn't sure how much I should focus it to do damage. What were you guys talking about earlier though about leaving?"

Bri answered, "The four of us are going to Cyrodil to get an Altar of Spellmaking."

"Can I come too?"

Amelia said in an angry tone, "Third-years only."

Ignis just gulped, ' _Crap. This is not going to end well._ '

* * *

 **Chamber of the Divines**

The Divines were laughing at the situation Ignis was stuck in. Dibella said, "Stuck in a room with two powerful women. That should be fun to watch." And it was until Godur broke up the cat fight by picking both of the girls up. "AWW."

* * *

 **9** **th** **Last Seed 4E 201**

 **Castle Dour, Solitude**

"Here you go. These papers will allow your group to cross the border," the Legate said as she handed over the papers to Ignis.

Ignis said, "Thank you." He placed the papers on the table next to him and put his Archive Tablet on top of them. He pressed a button on the tablet screen to copy the papers into the tablet.

"What did you just do?" the nearby Legionnaire Hadvar asked.

Ignis said, "I copied the papers into this tablet just in case I lose the papers."

"How?"

"Magic and Dwarven science."

* * *

 **12** **th** **Last Seed 4E 201**

 **Arcane University, Imperial City**

Ignis finished talking to the secretary and sat down with the other members of the group as they waited to meet the Synod Council. After almost half an hour of waiting, Godur asked, "What is taking so long? They can't be that busy, can they?"

Bri and Amelia shrugged, not having an answer, but Ignis responded, "It is a basic power play. By making us wait until a time of their choosing, they present themselves as the stronger party and mentally weaken us before the negotiations. It only makes a small difference but used properly it can decide the results of the negotiation before the first word is spoken." The rest of the group just looked at him in surprise. "What?" he said defensively. Before any of them could respond, a voice came from the hallway.

"I think you give the Council too much credit to be able to make use of such tactics," the man who spoke walked into the room. He was an Imperial with green eyes and blond hair going down to his chin, only looked a couple of years younger than Ignis. He was wearing a unique set of chainmail and leather armor similar to Legion armor though with pants rather than a skirt and with a Synod symbol on his left shoulder. He had a three point belt around his waist and right shoulder, on his left hip was an Ebony sword and everywhere else on the belt was covered in potions that were definitely not normal.

Ignis thought, ' _Okay this guy has to be one of the elite members of the Synod._ ' He spoke up, "Surprised a member of the Synod has so little faith in the Council." He just shrugged at that.

The secretary spoke up, "The Council will now speak with the representative of the College of Winterhold."

Ignis walked over to the warp panel that lead to the Council chambers but before he entered he turned around and asked, "By the way, who are you?"

The man smiled, "I'm the best fighter in the Synod. My name is Viridis Fortuna."

* * *

 **Chamber of the Divines**

Talos spoke immediately, "I remember him. He was the battlemage that survived the fight that killed Rufus. When did he join the Synod?"

Akatosh did a quick scan and said, "Looks like he joined at the beginning of the year."

Stendarr pondered, "I wonder why he left the Legion. It's not like he wasn't skilled enough to stay."

Mara pointed out, "Maybe the trauma of the fight was too much for him?"

"Guess we will have to wait to find out," Dibella said, pointing at the screen. "The meeting is starting." The Divines watched as Ignis negotiated for the one of the Spellmaking Altars. While at first it seemed to be a complex negotiation that could take hours, one of the Synod offered a quicker solution.

"Magical combat to decide if they will give one up?" Julianos said. "Well that should be easy for Ignis to win. He is the best combatant there." The Divines watched as the Council selected Viridis to fight for the Synod. They watched the Synod and College mages head to the arena to decide the outcome of the negotiations.

* * *

 **Arcane University Arena**

Amelia sat in the circle of seats surrounding the arena and looked around. After using the warp panel to enter the arena, she expected a more 'magical' look to the place but instead the arena was similar to a standard pit with seats surrounding it like a Fighting Pit. The only difference were the runes along the walls of the pit and the fact that the entire structure was underground. ' _At least I think it is. For all I know we may not be anywhere near the Imperial City after that warp panel._ ' The members of the Synod Council sat down next to the College mages while Ignis and Viridis entered the arena and took their positions in the center of the ring. One of the Synod mages stood up and yelled out, "Weapons and magical items are permitted in this fight but no one is to use lethal force. Do both fighters understand?" Ignis and Viridis nodded. "Good, then begin on three. ONE...TWO...THREE!"

Ignis cast Ebonyflesh in its focused form and moved it to his left arm to block Viridis's sword. He pushed the sword to the left then shifted the armor to his right hand to deliver a punch to Viridis's chest then shifted the armor back to the left hand to catch the sword. The pattern continued for a few minutes until Ignis's armor spell went down. He jumped back and conjured a blade in his right hand to continue the fight by narrowly deflecting the stab Viridis attempted. The two clashed several times before something became apparent to those watching.

"Ignis is...losing the fight?" Bri said disbelievingly. Bri and Godur were shocked but it was true. Ignis was getting pushed back the longer the sword fight lasted. While Ignis was a powerful mage, he never needed more than basic sword skills to kill his opponents. After all, most of his enemies were non-sentient or poorly armored and were killed with simple strikes. He had never faced a swordsman with real skill.

The Synod mages were smirking. "So that is the best the College of Winterhold can offer?" one of them said. "After all their boasting over the years, I would have expected a better fight."

Amelia smiled and said, "I wouldn't be so quick to celebrate if I were you. Ignis is holding back the vast majority of his power and skill until he is sure that Viridis can survive the fight." The Synod mages didn't believe her but when they looked back to the fight, the situation had changed.

Ignis cast Telekinesis on Viridis's armor to push him back and give Ignis some breathing room. Viridis grabbed one of the clear potions on his belt and threw it on the ground. The potion shattered, creating a blinding light similar to that of the sun at that spot. Ignis quickly covered his eyes with his right hand and activated the Ward Shield on his Gauntlet. The audience could not see much either but everyone heard another potion vial breaking and a spell being cast. When the light faded, the ground was covered in a white substance similar to snow. Ignis deactivated his Shield, looked around and smirked, "Not bad. Disrupting my vision to cast a repeated rune spell and hide them in a similar colored ground."

Viridis raised his eyebrow, "I'm surprised you noticed the repeated part. It is not exactly a common addition to Rune Spells. How did you recognize the tactic itself so quickly?"

Ignis answered, "I used a similar method of hiding runes in a fight against some Forsworn over a year ago. However, while your version is good, there is a serious flaw."

"And that is?"

Ignis started to charge a Master Level Spell, causing fire to build up in his hands as he answered, "You chose to use Frost Runes. I can easily turn that against you." Viridis's eyes widened as he started casting Lightning Bolt spells at Ignis, who blocked them with a reactivated Ward Shield. The Synod mages were shocked to see Ignis maintain the shield while casting a powerful spell with both hands. Ignis cast Fire Storm by placing his right hand on the ground. The blast wave hit all of the hidden runes in the arena but rather than creating several icy explosions, the combination of the frost runes and fire created a mist in the arena and blocked both mages from sight. After a moment of silence, the onlooking mages heard a series of loud footsteps on one side of the arena followed by a barrage of Firebolts from the opposite side heading towards the sound.

The mages heard a shout, "I yield!" The mist cleared and the Synod mages were stunned to see Ignis holding a conjured sword to Viridis's neck. He gulped and asked, "How did you move over here that fast?"

Ignis let the sword fade away and answered, "I was never over there. I used a Muffle spell to hide the sound of my footsteps and used a spell one of my friends invented to create the sound of footsteps at a distance. Then I followed the path of the Firebolts to find you and sneak up behind you."

The Synod mages were muttering among themselves before one of them spoke up, "Impressive, it seems like the College did not overstate your skill. We shall reconvene to discuss your offer." With that the Council mages left the arena, leaving Viridis and the College mages behind.

Amelia asked Viridis, "Is it normal for them to take this long to make a decision?"

Viridis responded after a moment, "No. On a simple matter like this, they should have made a decision in less than an hour at most." He smirked before he continued, "But if you want to use our Altar of Spellmaking while they are meeting, no one will stop you."

Ignis asked, "Where is it?"

* * *

 **10 minutes later...**

Ignis looked at the altar in front of him. It was a four feet tall pedestal made of some unknown material and gold edgings. The top had a stand to place an open book and four unlit candles were attached to the side. Ignis lit the candles with a few quick Flames spells and placed the Enchanting Tablet on the stand. This new version of the terminal was far superior to the old one in many ways. First, it only weighed a couple of pounds and was the size of a small book. Second, rather than using a keyboard to control the enchantment creation, the tablet had an advanced touchscreen. Third, the bottom of the tablet had a piece of metal that could slide out and connect to objects like Enchanting Tables or his Spell Gauntlet. ' _Amazing what can be done with the pocket space enchantments. This model is both larger and more complex than the previous one but it fits into a smaller space. Now, let's see how well the scan works._ ' The fourth improvement was the ability to scan new enchantments in without destroying the object. ' _Time to completion is..._ _ **FIVE HOURS!?**_ ' The major downside was it could take some time based on the complexity of the enchanted object.

Ignis took a breath to calm himself before he thought, ' _Okay, so I don't have the time to copy the altar's enchantments to recreate it. Guess I'm going to have to find another altar after all._ ' Since he did not have much time, he quickly got to work creating the spells that he planned ahead of time. ' _Slow Fall; Touch Spells for Fire, Ice, and Lightning along with their combinations for the Saber; Chaos Wave...Super Chaos Wave... damn that might be a bit too much power; Infinite Blade Storm... that should be the the last of them._ ' He picked up the tablet, pulled the connector slide out and placed it on the Spell Gauntlet's panel. He pressed a few spots on the tablet to transfer the last two spells into his gauntlet. The panel on the inside of the Gauntlet's forearm lit up for a moment, showing two symbols. One was a collection of several blades and the other was a triangle of fire, ice, and lightning inside a circle of magical energy. The symbols darkened but could still be seen if one looked closely at the glass panel.

"Hey, the council as made a decision on the Altar," Viridis said from the entrance. Ignis put his tablet away and walked over. "I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you though. The council rarely hands over a magical artifact even if they have a dozen of them."

"Considering that I gave them the Focused Armor Spell Technique and the Ward Enchantment, I think that they would be willing to give up _one_ Altar..."

* * *

 **10 minutes later...**

Ignis struggled not to yell as he said, "So you will not give up one of the Altars despite the offer the College has given you?"

One of the Synod wizards answered, "That is correct. However, as a consolation, we will give you the location of another Altar of Spellmaking that is on the way back to Skyrim."

"Where is it?"

"Frostcrag Spire."

* * *

 **Chamber of the Divines**

Akatosh groaned at the mention of Frostcrag Spire, knowing that trouble was coming. He reluctantly asked, "Who is going to get... where did Talos go?" The Divines looked around and noticed he was missing. They then heard shouting behind them.

"Get in there!" "Not without my cheese." "I don't care about your cheese." The Divines turned around to see Talos dragging Sheogorath into the room. He then threw Sheogorath onto a chair before returning to his own spot.

"What is going on now? I was having such a good vacation and then this brute just comes in an-"

"Ignis is going to Frostcrag Spire," Stendarr said, cutting Sheogorath off. "Is there anything dangerous that you left behind in the tower from when you were a mortal that could be a threat to him?"

"What? Noooo," Sheogorath started to say. The Divines breathed a sigh of relief just before he continued, "But the Oblivion gates, traps, and thousands of Daedra I put there over the last two years _might_ be a problem."

The Divines shouted as one, "WWWWHHHHAAAAAAATTTT?"

 **AN: Please review**


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